Roman Law

I

Introduction

Roman Law, in general usage, legal system developed by the Romans from the time of their first codification of law, known as the Law of the Twelve Tables, in 450 bc, to the death of Justinian I, ruler of the Byzantine Empire, in ad 565. Specifically, the term designates the codification of law known as the Corpus Juris Civilis, also called the Justinian Code, made under the auspices of Justinian, that forms the basis of the civil law of many continental European countries.

II

The Early Law

Prior to the Twelve Tables, the law of Rome was religious in character, and its interpretation rested with priests, who were members of the patrician class. Complaints and agitation by the plebeians, the common people, led to the writing of the existing legal customs and the addition of new principles unknown in the customary law. The Law of the Twelve Tables thus drafted was submitted to and accepted by the popular assembly. This code set forth simple rules suitable for an agricultural community; it established equal law for patricians and plebeians and was prized by the Romans as the source of all public and private law. The legal system established under this code, and the body of rules that developed around it, applied exclusively to Roman citizens and was known as the jus civile.

III

Effects of Roman Rule

Conquest over the Mediterranean basin compelled the Romans to work out a new system of law. Each conquered territory had its own system, and a body of law was required that would be applicable to both citizens and subjects. Between about 367 bc and ad 137 the new law was developed from the edicts of the praetor, or magistrate, who defined and interpreted the law in individual cases. The praetor of the foreigners administered justice in Rome in all controversies except those in which both parties were citizens; the provincial praetor patterned his edicts in matters of commercial interest after the edict of the foreign praetor in Rome. During the last century of the republic the rules of the new system were generally made applicable to controversies between Roman citizens. This new legal system was known as the jus gentium. The extension of citizenship during the years from 100 bc to ad 212 to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire made the distinction between the jus gentium and the jus civile obsolete, and the city law or jus civile of Rome became the law of the empire. Provincial diversities were effaced by legislation by the senate and emperor and by juristic interpretation. The most significant development in the Roman legal system of this period was the right given by the first Roman Emperor Augustus and his successors to eminent jurists to deliver responsa, or opinions, on the legal cases on trial in the courts. Among the most famous of these Roman jurists were Gaius, Papinian, Julius Paulus, and Ulpian, the last three of whom successively held the position praefectus praetoria, or minister of justice of the Roman Empire.

IV

First Legal Code

In the 3rd century ad the decrees or laws issued by the emperors gained increasing importance in the Roman legal system. The first codification of this imperial legislation, the Codex Theodosianus, was published by Theodosius II, ruler of the Byzantine Empire, in ad 438. Theodosius entertained, but did not carry out, a broader plan, involving an official digest of the older law, as set forth in the juristic literature. Subsequently, Justinian I appointed a committee of ten jurists, the most famous of whom was his chief legal minister, Tribonian, to make such a digest. The law books published by Justinian, the Institutiones (533), the Digesta or Pandecta (533), and the Codex Constitutionum (528-529; revised 534), together with the Novellae (534-565), are collectively known as the Corpus Juris Civilis.

The Institutiones of Justinian sets forth the elements of Roman law and was based on the Institutiones of Gaius. It was intended primarily for law students, but was published with statutory force. The Digesta or Pandecta, composed of excerpts from the juristic literature of four centuries (from about 30 bc to ad 300), was a collection of decisions of the courts, with commentaries on various laws. The Novellae was a collection of the laws issued by Justinian and his successors. The revised Codex Constitutionum was a compilation of all imperial legislation up to ad 534.

The law books of Justinian retained the force of law in the Byzantine Empire until the end of the 9th century, when they were condensed into a single code, written in Greek and known as the Basilica. This code, in turn, remained nominally in force until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. In western Europe between the 6th and the 11th centuries the principal source of Roman law was the Breviary of Alaric, compiled by Alaric II, king of the Visigoths, in ad 506. In the 11th century, however, the law books of Justinian were studied and used in Lombardy, in southern France, and in Barcelona, Spain. In Italy, the laws of Justinian were taught in a law school at Pavia. Early in the 12th century a more thorough study of these texts was inaugurated at Bologna. The systematic study of Roman law spread from Italy throughout Europe from the 12th century onwards. With the revival of European commerce and the inadequacy of medieval law to meet the requirements of the changing economic and social conditions, Roman law became incorporated in the legal systems of many continental European countries.

See Courts; Law; Property.