Contents

1        The Historical and Constitutional Context of Roman Law: A Brief

Overview..........................................................................................................

1.1       Divisions of Roman Constitutional and Legal History........................... 1

1.2       The Archaic Period (Monarchy and Early Republic).............................. 4

1.2.1                  General Historical Background................................................... 4

1.2.2                  The Constitutional Framework................................................... 5

1.3       The Pre-classical Period (Late Republic).............................................. 11

1.3.1                  General Historical Background................................................. 11

1.3.2                  The Constitutional Framework.................................................

1.4       The Classical Period (Early Empire or Principate)............................... 14

1.4.1                  General Historical Background................................................. 14

1.4.2                  The Constitutional Framework................................................. 16

1.5       The Post-classical Period (Late Empire or Dominate).......................... 20

1.5.1                  General Historical Background................................................. 20

1.5.2face="Times New Roman">                  The Constitutional Framework................................................. 23

1.6       The Reign of Justinian (ad 527-565)................................................... 25

1.6.1                  General Historical Background................................................. 25

1.6.2                  The Constitutional Framework.................................................

2        The Sources of Roman Law........................................................................ 27

2.1       Introductory......................................................................................... 27

2.2       Sources of Law in the Archaic Age....................................................... 29

2.2.1                  Customary Law and the Leges Regiae...................................... 29

2.2.2                  The Law of the Twelve Tables and the Growth of Statutory

Law........................................................................................................................ 32

2.2.3                  The Pontiffs and the Beginnings of Jurisprudence...............       40

2.3       Sources of Law in the Late Republic.................................................... 43

2.3.1                  Legislation................................................................................ 43

2.3.2                  The Rise of Magisterial Law....................................................

2.3.3                  The Jurists of the Late Republic............................................... 55

2.3.4                  The Role of Custom.................................................................. 61

2.4       Sources of Law in the Principate Era................................................... 61

New Roman">2.4.1                  The Decline of Popular Law-Making........................................ 61

2.4.2                  The Consolidation of Magisterial Law...................................... 63

2.4.3                  The Senatorial Resolutions as a Source of Law......................... 64

2.4.4                  The Princeps as a Lawmaker.................................................... 65

2.4.5                  The Culmination of Roman Jurisprudence............................... 70

2.4.6                  The Influence of Customary Law..............................................

2.5       Sources of Law in the Later Imperial Era............................................. 84

2.5.1                  The Development of Imperial Law-Making.............................. 84

2.5.2                  The Law of the Jurists.............................................................  86

2.5.3                  Custom and the Growth of ‘Vulgar Law’................................. 92

3        The Private Law........................................................................................... 95

3.1       Introduction.......................................................................................... 95

3.2       The Law of Persons.............................................................................. 97

3.2.1                  Status Libertatis....................................................................... 98

3.2.2                  Status Civitatis......................................................................

3.2.3                  Status Familiae....................................................................... 102

3.2.4style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>                  Capitis Deminutio.................................................................  105

3.2.5                  Marriage................................................................................. 105

3.2.6                  Guardianship and Curatorship..............................................  110

3.3       The Law of Property.......................................................................... 113

3.3.1                  Classification of Things.......................................................... 114

3.3.2                  Ownership.............................................................................. 115

3.3.3                  Possession.............................................................................. 124

3.4       The Law of Obligations...................................................................... 126

3.4.1                  The Law of Contracts............................................................. 128

3.4.2                  The Law of Delicts.................................................................. 143

3.5       The Law of Succession....................................................................... 149

3.5.1                  Intestate Succession................................................................ 150

3.5.2                  Testamentary Succession........................................................ 151

3.6       The Law of Actions............................................................................ 154

3.6.1                  The Legis Actio Procedure...................................................... 155

3.6.2                  The Formulary Procedure....................................................... 155

3.6.3                  The Cognitio Procedure.......................................................... 157

4        Criminal Law and Criminal Justice.......................................................... 159

4.1       Introduction........................................................................................ 159

4.2       Crime and Criminal Justice in the Archaic Era..................................  160

4.3       The Development of Criminal Justice in the Late Republic............. 164

4.3.1                  The Permanent Jury Courts...................................................  166

4.4       The Administration of Criminal Justice in the Principate Age... 173

4.4.1                  The Criminal Jurisdiction of the Senate.................................  175

4.4.2                  Imperial Jurisdiction............................................................... 175

4.4.3                  Criminal Offences, Responsibility and Punishment............. 178

4.5       Crime and Criminal Justice in the Dominate Period........................... 182

4.5.1                  The Court System................................................................... 183

4.5.2                  The Criminal Justice Process.................................................. 185

4.5.3                  Judicial Protection of the Lower Classes................................ 190

5        The Codification of Roman Law............................................................... 193

5.1       Introduction........................................................................................ 193

5.1.1                  Early Codifications................................................................. 193

5.2       The Theodosian Code......................................................................... 195

5.3       The Germanic Codes of Roman Law.................................................. 196

5.4       The Codification of Justinian............................................................. 198

5.4.1                  Introductory........................................................................... 198

5.4.2                  The First Code........................................................................ 199

5.4.3                  The Digest or Pandects........................................................... 200

5.4.4                  The Institutes.......................................................................... 205

5.4.5                  The Second Code.................................................................... 207

5.4.6                  The Novels............................................................................. 208

5.4.7                  The Corpus luris Civilis........................................................... 210

5.4.8                  Concluding Note..................................................................... 210

6        Roman Law and Byzantine Imperial Legislation..................................... 213

6.1       The Historical Context of Byzantine Law.......................................... 213

6.2       Sources of Byzantine Law.................................................................. 215

6.2.1                  Legal Development from the End of Justinian’s Reign to

the Accession of Basil I the Macedonian.............................................................. 217

6.2.2                  Legal Development Under the Macedonian Dynasty.... 222

6.2.3                  lang=EN-US>Legal Development in the Late Byzantine Age....................... 227

6.3       The Influence of Byzantine Law......................................................... 230

7        The Survival and Resurgence of Roman Law in Western Europe ... 233

7.1       The Historical Background................................................................. 233

7.2       Roman Law the Early Middle Ages.................................................... 240

7.3       The Revival of Roman Law................................................................ 243

7.3.1                  The Glossators....................................................................... 246

7.3.2                  The Commentators................................................................. 250

7.4       The Development of Canon Law........................................................ 254

7.5       The Growth of Commercial Law........................................................ 257

7.6       Feudal Law......................................................................................... 258

7.7       The Reception of Roman Law............................................................ 260

7.7.1                  The Reception of Roman   Law in France............................... 262

7.7.2                  The Reception of Roman Law in Germany............................. 265

7.7.3                  The lus Commune in Italy, the Iberian Peninsula and the

Netherlands.......................................................................................................... 268

7.7.4                  The Influence of Roman Law in Britain.................................. 272

7.8       The Humanist Movement................................................................... 277

7.9       lang=EN-US>The School of Natural Law................................................................ 280

8        Codification and the Rise of Modern Civil Law....................................... 287

8.1       The Codification Movement............................................................... 287

8.1.1                  The Codification of Civil Law in France................................. 288

8.1.2                  The Codification of Civil Law in Germany............................. 290

8.2       The Civil Law Tradition..................................................................... 296

8.2.1                  Geographic Distribution of the  Civil  Law............................. 297

8.2.2                  Defining Characteristics of Civil Law Systems....................... 302

8.2.3                  Concluding Remarks.............................................................. 308

Select Bibliography............................................................................................ 311

Index................................................................................................................... 315