Fugitive Faces Extradition Demand
Roman citizen Paula fled to a neighboring province after aiding foreign agents. Provincial authorities demanded her return under the governor's order. She was delivered for trial on perduellio charges in Rome.
Also known as: perduellionis · treason · high treason
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An offense under Roman law consisting of hostility to one's native country, such as joining the enemy or deserting the battlefield.
Roman citizen Paula fled to a neighboring province after aiding foreign agents. Provincial authorities demanded her return under the governor's order. She was delivered for trial on perduellio charges in Rome.
Consul Pearl secretly aided an adversary during wartime. The Senate tried her for perduellio. Conviction resulted in removal from office and loss of citizenship rights.
Citizen Pilar was convicted of perduellio for levying war. The assembly passed a statute increasing punishment. The court applied the change only to future offenses.
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A Roman publisher released documents exposing military plans. Prosecutors charged perduellio. The magistrate refused prior restraint and allowed publication.
One Roman magistrate attempted a veto over an executive perduellio finding. The assembly invalidated the procedure. Full legislative process remained required.
Portia alleged perduellio by officials in drawing election districts. The magistrate refused to intervene. The issue was left to the political branches.
Perduellio covers acts of hostility to one's native country, including joining the enemy, deserting the battlefield, assuming regal power, fomenting internal rebellion, or promoting designs of external foes.
Article III Section 3 limits treason to levying war against the United States or adhering to enemies by giving aid and comfort, requiring two witnesses or confession for conviction.
Article II Section 4 permits removal for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Serious abuses of office may be analogized to perduellio.
Article IV Section 2 requires delivery of a person charged with treason, felony, or other crime who flees to another state. The Roman term itself is not used.
No. Roman law treated several peacetime acts as perduellio, such as subverting the government by violence or promoting external foes, and the term later merged into broader state crimes.
…occurred in the great political trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. One such was the 1603 trial of Sir Walter Raleigh for treason. Lord Cobham, Raleigh's alleged accomplice, had implicated him in an examination before the Privy Council and in a letter. At Raleigh's trial, these were read to the jury. Raleigh argued…