This article analyzes the crime of insults framed in Arequipa society at the end of s. XVIII. Using some concepts of the social theory of Erving Goffman seeks study the political rationality behind the insults and the trials derived from them, pointing out how these mechanisms were used as means of social advancement in the city. This article also describes the archetype of citizen in Arequipa, in opposition to the social behaviors mislabeled in the causes of insults.