Teofilo e l’origine delle res sanctae: ancora spazio per le antiquae fabulae?

ABSTRACT: To the justification for the qualification of the walls as res sanctae already indicated in the Imperial Institutiones, an original justification is added in P.T. 2, 1, 10, based on a mythological tale (μυθώδης αἰτία). The walls would, in fact, represent man's response to the loss of the benevolence of the gods. The veneration previously paid to the gods would now be projected onto the walls. The protection that the walls offer to the man is thus intertwined with the protection (up to including the death penalty) that man provides as a guarantee for them, precisely because they are res sanctae.