The founders of the civil law

According to Pomponius (D. 1.2.2.39), the founders of the civil law were Manius Manilius, Marcus lunius Brutus, and Publius Mucius Scaevola. They were called founders probably because they published the first books containing legal arguments, and they created new legal formularies.

A member of the Scipionis circle, Manius Manilius (consul in 149 bce) was the author of a collection of clauses applicable to sales. Varro (De re rustica 2.3.5) specifically praised the quality of Manilius's stipulation guaranteeing the health and good conditions of goats that were going to be sold. Manilius enjoyed a high reputation because of the quality of his opinions (responsa) and his generosity in helping others with his legal knowledge (cicero, De oratore 3.133). A legal eminence but also an enigmatic figure, Marcus lunius Brutus, praetor in 142 bce, was the author of a work on civil law containing a dialogue with his son on legal issues and his responsa, perhaps as a posthumous appendix.

We possess more information about the third founder of civil law: Publius Mucius Scaevola (died 113 bce). Tribune in 141 bce, consul in 133 bce, and later pontifex maximus, Publius Mucius Scaevola was the son of the consul of 175 bce and a member of an important family of jurists, including his brother (by adoption), Licinius Crassus Mucianus, who was also consul in 131 bce and pontifex maximus, and his cousin Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur, consul in 117 bce. The most distinguished jurist among the Mucii was Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex, perhaps the leading lawyer of the Roman Republic.