Other literary sources

Much of what we know about the history of Roman law is derived from the surviving works of Roman and Greek historians, geographers, grammarians and lexicographers, orators, poets and philosophers.

These sources provide valuable information about the socio-economic, political and cultural context within which the Roman legal institutions developed. The beginning of Roman historical writing coincides with the emergence of Latin literature at the end of the third century BC.^{^[11]}[12] The earliest Roman historians, referred to as 'annalists', are believed to have had access to Rome's official records (annales maximi or tabulae pontificum) which, from an early age, were under the supervision of the pontifex maximus, head of the most powerful of Rome's priestly colleges. These records chronicled important events, such as eclipses and other natural phenomena of a religious significance, wars and the names of the elected magistrates, on a year-by-year basis. But almost all documentary evidence for the period preceding the fourth century perished - according to some annalists this occurred during the sack of Rome by the invading Gauls in c. 390 BC. As a result, the annalists tended to describe Rome's remote past by filling in the scanty documentary evidence at their disposal with materials derived largely from the oral tradition, which consisted chiefly of folk-tales and the traditions of the Roman nobility. Although these stories tell us much about the cultural framework of the early Roman society, their value as sources of historical information is regarded as highly questionable. And since later Roman historians relied on the annalistic inheritance for their own reconstructions of Rome's early history, their accounts are not taken at face value but are viewed in the light of the findings of modem scientific archaeology, linguistics and comparative philology.

Moreover, one has to keep in mind that, as most of the leading historians were members of the Roman upper classes, the world-picture they convey is often affected by their ideological and family bias and their political affiliations. Of

particular importance are the works of Greek historians who, insofar as they can be seen as outside observers, probably offer a more disinterested description of events than Roman writers.

Of the Greek and Roman historians of the late Republic and early Empire, the following are among the most important: Polybius of Megalopolis (c. 208-118 BC), whose Universal History offers a vivid account of Rome's wars of expansion from 220 to 145 BC;^{^[13]} Diodorus Siculus (c. 80-20 BC), who composed a general history of the world from the earliest times down to the first century BC;^{^{New Roman",serif;color:black'>[14]}} Dionysius of Halicarnassus (first century BC), author of the Roman Antiquities, a comprehensive narration of Roman history down to the middle of the third century BC;^{^[15]} Posidonius of Apamea (first century BC), also a celebrated scientist, geographer and philosopher, who wrote a history of Rome from 145 BC down to his own times;^{^[16]}[17] Plutarch (c. 46-120 AD), author of the Parallel Lives, a work that compares the lives of famous figures of Greek and Roman history; Sallust (c. 87-35 BC), whose subsequent reputation as one of the foremost historians of his time rested mainly upon his Histories, an exhaustive account of the period 78-67 BC, and to a lesser extent on his monographs on the Catilinarian conspiracy {Bellum Catilinae) and the Jugurthine War {Bellum lugurthinum},^ Livy of Padua (Titus Livius, 59 BC-17 AD), whose monumental history of Rome {Ab urbe condita), covering the whole span of Roman history from the foundation of Rome down to the early years of the first century AD, was well-known all over the Roman world;^{^[18]} Tacitus (Publius Cornelius Tacitus, c. 55-123 AD), author of a series of famous works providing valuable information about the history of the early imperial era;^{^[19]} Dio Cassius Cocceianus (c.

155-235 AD), who composed a general history of Rome from the beginning of the archaic era down to 229 AD;^{^[20]}[21] Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, c. 61-114 AD), whose Letters include an account of speeches he made as an advocate in extortion trials before the senate; Suetonius (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, c. 70-150 AD), whose writings include the Biographies and the Lives of the Caesars (De Vita Caesarum)}' Another source of information is the Historia Augusta (probably the work of six authors), a collection of biographies of Roman Emperors, Caesars and usurpers from 117 to 284 AD.

Among the best known historians of the later imperial period are: Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330-395 AD), whose History (XXXI Libri Rerum Gestarum) covers the period 96-378 AD;^{^[22]} Flavius Josephus (c. 3895 AD), who in his work the Jewish Antiquities, a history of the Jews from the Creation to 66 AD, has preserved many Roman edicts and rescripts as well as information about several Roman emperors taken from authoritative Roman sources; Lactantius (c. 240-320 AD), author of a work describing the trials of the Christians under Emperors Diocletian and Galerius;^{^[23]} Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (c. 260-340 AD), who composed a Church History covering the period down to 324 AD, as well as comprehensive chronological tables of the Greek and Roman history;^{^[24]}Cassiodorus (c. 490-538 AD), writer of numerous works, including the Chronica, a summary of the Roman history down to 519 AD; and Procopius (sixth century AD), thanks to whom we have a vivid account of the age of Justinian.^{^[25]}

Besides the historical works, important sources of Roman legal history are the writings of political and forensic orators, such as Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato, 234-149 BC), Cicero (M.

Tullius Cicero, 10643 BC), known also for his writings on philosophy and political theory,^{^[26]}the philosopher Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 4 BC-65 AD) and Pliny the Younger, mentioned before.^{^[27]} Our sources include also the works of Greek and Roman geographers, such as Strabo of Amasia (64 BC-21 AD), whose Geographica survived almost intact;^{^[28]} biographers, such as Cornelius Nepos (first century BC), and Plutarch and Suetonius, mentioned before; antiquarians and philologists, such as Varro (Marcus Terentius Varro, 116-27 BC),^{^[29]} Aulus Gellius (second century AD),^{^[30]} and Valerius Maximus (first century AD). Of some importance for the study of Roman legal life during the pre-classical period are the comedies of Plautus (c. 254-184 BC) and Terentius (c. 190-159 BC), although it is difficult to say whether their works give an accurate picture of life in Rome or they reflect the Greek models upon which they are based. Finally, information relevant to the history of Roman law is derived from the works on agriculture of Cato (Marcus Porcius Cato, second century BC) and other writers.³⁰[31]

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

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