Abstract
The article is focused on the issue of unilateral vows in ancient Rome, their nature and binding force. Attention is paid to public religious vows, whether made for the good of the Roman state or later the emperor (vota publica).
In this context, their special forms are also mentioned, such as evocatio, consecratio and especially devotio. Private religious vows (vota privata) are not omitted.
The second type of promises was pollicitatio - private promises in favour of the municipality, the aim of which was initially exclusively to obtain a local office, later they were made in reaction to consequences of the natural disaster. From the legal point of view, such unilateral promises are among the contracts arising as if from the contract (quasi-contracts) and were enforceable only within the imperial process (cognitio extra ordinem).