The discovery of a Villa belonged to the Mucii Scaevolae has proved
to be of great interest for legal history: the surviving wall paintings, actually, have allowed the identification of a formula with intentio certa.
In the present essay it is hypothesized that, as a tribute to the memory of
Quintus Mucius Scaevola, who had distinguished himself in life for his modesty and who was, among other cultural merits, the author of a famous account of penus, the commissioner of the painting had wanted to immortalize even a small grocery list, maybe evocative of the definition of a family
food store and surely of the sobriety of a pristina simplicitas.
Keywords: Quintus Mucius Scaevola, penus, Ulpianus, ius controversum,
legatum penoris
