Conclusions
There is much to learn from a closer look at the works of a single jurist of the late twelfth century, one breathing deeply in the air of antiquity’s renewal that was blowing through the politics of his age.
As an ancient monument, the imperial constitution described in the laws of Justinian existed to be called into a new life. But in the theory of Roland there was no opposition between a powerful empire and many prosperous and independent cities. His political attitude is the same as the one of his city: to defend the autonomy of the commune through a careful policy of alliance with the emperor. Fidelity towards the imperator did not mean an unconditioned acquiescence to his power, however. It is very possible to see, in Roland, a Tuscan jurist trying to shape the role of the emperor so as to leave enough space for the independence of the cities. As he limits the right to raise taxes, as he describes a right of the subjects to resist unjust taxation, as he denies the emperor any universal private property right, as he describes the government of cities as res publicae: in all these cases our judge uses his expert legal training, based on the Corpus Iuris of Justinian, to sketch a limited role for the imperial power. A role with as many duties as rights: being ?common father’ and ?source of justice’ he may not use his power irrationally. The message is clear. The role played by the emperor in the system1974), 255n237: ?...Quia locuti sumus de dominio directo et utili, scias quod soli Italici, quia non solvunt tributa rerum suarum, dicuntur habere directum dominium et soli dicuntur domini rerum suarum, C. de usuc. transfor., l. unica (C. 7.31.un.), et ita habes per legem illam quod quicumque solvit tributum vel censum non est directo dominus sed utiliter. Ex hoc dicit dominus meus quod quicumque agit contra aliquem et proponat rei vendica- tionem (quia pauci sunt, hic modo paucissimi, qui aliquid non solvant de re sua immobili), permittat actorem agere donec sit prope sententiam diffinitivam, et tunc dicat: “Domine iudex, non procedatis ulterius, quia ineptam actionem proposuit quia egit rei vindicatione et sic dixit se directo dominum et tamen non est sed utiliter; unde ex quo simpliciter intentavit rei vendicationem dixit directo se dominum et non est directo dominus ex quo res est tributaria vel censualis”, et hoc per ista iura, C. de usuc. transfor., l. unica (C. 7.31.un.) ff. si ager vect. pe. l. unica (D. 6.3.1), ff. si agrimens. fal. mo. di. l. i (D. 11.6.1)’. See also the similar passage of the LecturaInstitutionum, in Feenstra, Fata, 256n239. is shaped by the law; the emperor himself is but an institution of the Roman law whose first duty it is to protect the rights of his subjects.