Divisions of Roman Legal History

The history of Roman law is divided into two great phases. The first phase spans more than a thousand years, from the formation of the city-state of Rome to the codification of Justinian in the sixth century ad.

The second phase of Roman legal history (occasionally labelled the ‘second life’ of Roman law) commenced in the sixth century, yet only acquired true significance in the eleventh century when Roman law was ‘rediscovered’ in Western Europe. This law was initially the object of academic study and then later engaged for a far- reaching reception in large parts of Continental Europe. Particularly important in this process was the work of the medieval jurists who systematically studied, interpreted and adapted Roman law to the conditions and needs of their own era.

G. Mousourakis, Fundamentals of Roman Private Law,                                                                           1

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-29311-5_1, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. When new civil codes were introduced in the various European states, Roman law ceased to operate as a direct source of law. But as the drafters of the codes greatly relied on the Roman system, elements of Roman law were incorporated in different ways and to varying degrees into the legal systems of Continental Europe. Moreover, through the process of legal borrowing or transplanting these legal elements permeated the legal systems of many countries around the world.

The history of Roman law in antiquity is traditionally divided into four periods: (a) the archaic period—from the eighth century bc to the late third century bc; (b) the pre-classical period—from the late third century bc to the beginning of the first century ad; (c) the classical period—from the beginning of the first century ad to the middle of the third century ad; and (d) the post-classical period—from the middle of the third century ad to the middle of the sixth century ad. With respect to Roman constitutional history, the archaic period covers the Monarchy and the early Republic; the pre-classical period largely coincides with the later part of the Republic; the classical period covers most of the first part of the imperial era, known as the Principate; and the post-classical period embraces the final years of the Principate and the late Empire or Dominate, including the age of Justinian (ad 527-565). Justinian’s codification of the law marks the end of the history of Roman law in antiquity; at the same time, it heralds the beginning of the second phase of Roman legal history (i.e. from the early Middle Ages to modern times).

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