Expert: Francesco Marchesani - 8/16/2006

Question
I've read that the punishment for patricide was to be
beaten, then sewn into a sack with a snake, a dog, a cock,
and a monkey.  Why these animals and what do they
symbolize?  

Answer
Hello,
a person found guilt of patricide (and in general, of homocide) was called a "sacer" (literally, "sacred"): he was cast out of the society, and put under the rule of the gods, who could dispose of his life freely. As a symbol of this, the Romans sew the condemned man into a sack with those animals, which would panic and fight madly to escape death, thus torning his flesh in pieces. Those animals, so, represent the will of the gods, and their punishment for the crime.
However, it's not known whether this punishment have been actually carried out (monkeys are difficult to find in Italy!).