SJ+Crime+and+Punishment+common+crimes

Many crimes were committed in Ancient Rome, some of the most serious ones include:

 * Treason - This includes speaking out against the government or betraying Rome in any way, shape, or form.
 * Murder - Killing somebody.
 * Arson - Vandalising or destroying any property which you do not own.
 * Forgery - Faking any documents.
 * Rape - Forced sex upon an unwilling victim, BOTH the victim and the perpetrator received the same punishment for this crime.[[image:roman_guard.jpg width="288" height="288" align="right" caption="Courtesy of Creative Commons - A Roman Guard, you would think twice about committing a crime with a guard in sight. "]]
 * Deserting - Leaving the Army without permission.

Some of the lesser (but still very serious) crimes committed include:

 * Theft or Robbery - Stealing somebodies possessions.
 * Embezzlement - Being bribed money to keep a secret and/or turn a blind eye towards something.
 * Assault - Attacking somebody.
 * Mugging - Theft and possibly Assault.
 * False Accusations - Accusing somebody of doing something they did not (Although a lot of the time this was discovered after the false perpetrator had been punished).

Many of the 'most serious' crimes committed were committed for varying reasons, some people were just plain evil, some wanted revenge, others were insane, most were simply just stupid. Some people were incredibly desperate and had no other way of achieving their goal without braking the law.

Most of the 'lesser' crimes were committed for a few reasons, one of them being; many average Roman citizens were poor, for many of them it seemed mugging, theft, and robbery, were the easiest ways of getting some money to feed their family. Some of the other lesser crimes were committed in acts of pure anger or revenge.

//For a large list of the brutal punishments given out to those foolish enough to commit these crimes, Click Here.//