INTRODUCTIO

This Dictionary has several purposes: to explain tech­nical Roman legal terms, to translate and elucidate those Latin words which have a specific connotation when used in a juristic context or in connection with a legal institution or question, and to provide a brief picture of Roman legal institutions and sources as a sort of a first introduction to them.

The objectives of the work, not the juristic character of available Lätin writings, therefore, determined the inclusion or exclusion of any single word or phrase. Since the Dictionary is not intended to be a complete Latin-English dictionary for all words which occur in the writings of the Roman jurists or in the various codi­fications of Roman law, the reader must consult a gen­eral Latin-English lexicon for ordinary words that have no specific meaning in law or juristic language. In this respect, as in others, the present work differs funda­mentally from Heumann’s Handlexikon zu den Quellen des römischen Rechts (in the excellent edition by Emil Seckel, 1907). On the other hand, numerous entries concern words and phrases which occur only in non- juristic sources, literary writings or inscriptions, but which must, nevertheless, receive attention if the Dic­tionary is truly to survey all fields of the vast province of Roman law; private, criminal, public, administrative, sacral, and military law, taxation, etc. Many entries, furthermore, deal with Latin terms of medieval or mod­ern coinage, unknown to the ancient Romans, but now widely accepted in the Romanistic literature.

All the more important entries are encyclopedic as well as lexicographical. That is to say, an attempt has been made in each case to depict as succinctly as pos­sible, the historical development of the legal institution or term it defines, the use of certain words in the lan­guage of the jurists or the imperial chancery, and par­ticular attention has been given to important substantial changes from early law to classical law and again in the reforms of Justinian.

Considerable attention has been given to the sources themselves. A large number of entries are devoted to them, ranging in time from the archaic regal ordinances (the leges regiae} to Justinian’s codification, and, in more limited measure, to post-Justinian Byzantine and medieval writings and collections of laws. Basic defi­nitions, legal rules of fundamental importance, and char­acteristic utterances of the jurists are given in literal translations within quotation marks, followed by a cita­tion of the pertinent source. Titles of the Institutes, Digest and Justinian’s Code or Novels that deal ex pro- fesso with a specific topic are noted at the end of the

entry. Substantial interpolations by which classical in­stitutions and terms were eliminated as well as the more reliable linguistic criteria have been taken into consideration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The extensive bibliographical apparatus is intended for a wide circle of readers. For that reason, space has been given to publications in English, many of which may be unknown to the international guild of Romanists, at the same time that works in other languages are fully represented in the interest of readers in other countries and of students and research workers who have a mas­tery of other languages. Stress has been primarily placed on the international Romanistic literature of the twentieth century. Earlier works are cited only when they have remained standard treatments or did not lose their importance despite later publications.

To insure completeness and at the same time to avoid wasteful duplication, the bibliography was divided into two distinct parts. A General Bibliography in twenty chapters appears as a block at the end of the Dictionary. It comprises textbooks and comprehensive general pres­entations, which as a matter of rule are not repeated in the bibliographies appended to the single entries, and literature concerning general problems of the develop­ment of Roman law, the sources and their editions, and the influence of Roman law on modern legal systems. The Anglo-American reader will find Chapter X, “Ro­man Law and the Anglo-American World” of special interest. It is a first attempt to provide an extensive bibliography of works and articles on the part played by Roman law in the development of the common law and on the value of the study of Roman law in countries in the sphere of Anglo-American law. Chapter XIV on Roman law in non-juristic sources, Chapter VI on the legal policies of the emperors, and Chapter XI concerned with the literature on the place of Roman law in legal education, are also first attempts at systematic bibli­ographic treatment.

The second part of the- bibliographical apparatus is the specialized section, scattered throughout the Dic­tionary among the individual entries. Here, too, the aim was to satisfy both the beginner and the expert. First place has been assigned to the renowned encyclo­pedias : the Realenzyklopaedie der klassischen Alter- tumswissenschajt (RE) of Pauly, Wissowa, Kroll et al., the Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines of Daremberg and Saglio (DS), the Nuovo Digesto Ita­liano (NDI), De Ruggiero’s Dizionario epigrafico (DE) and the very recent Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD).

Bibliographical omissions are unavoidable even when remarkable papers are involved. I am confident, how­ever, that the selections scrupulously compiled will en­able the reader to find without any difficulty the litera­ture left out in this book.

GLOSSARY

A selected English-Latin Glossary is appended for the benefit of readers who have little or no familiarity with Latin legal terminology. It includes the more impor­tant terms in English whose Latin counterparts are not virtually the same. Thus, “sale” or “lease” are in­cluded, but not “senate” or “consul,” “formula” or “ex- ceptio.” Terms connected with administration are gen­erally omitted. The Latin words of the Glossary are covered by pertinent entries in the Dictionary proper together with the cross-references. Thus the reader will have the opportunity to become acquainted not only with the term itself but also its legal significance and applications.