‘Ricalibrazione’ della sententia e strumenti di impugnazione. Riflessioni sulle origini dell’appellatio.

Frequently, scholars of the Twentieth and Twenty-first century studied the appellatio, as the earliest known instrument to contest a sententia on its merits. In particular, starting from the well-known work of Orestano – a study that has progressively become the foundational point for all subsequent analysis – many authors have attempted to investigate the function and structure of the appeal, often focusing, however, on the remedy’s existence in a late stage, when it had already become the object of imperial provisions designed to reform it. In this paper, following a survey of the studies advanced by modern scholars, an attempt will be made to investigate the origins of appellatio during the Principate, also evaluating, on the base of a terminological approach, the expression used to invoke the intervention of the princeps and which, progressively, would contribute to identifying the instrument of challenge itself.