Unravel the intricate tapestry of Roman law, a cornerstone of Western legal tradition. Journey through its evolution, from the Twelve Tables to Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, and explore its enduring influence on contemporary legal systems.
Roman law, the law of ancient Rome from the time of the founding of the city in 753 BCE until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century ce, remained in use in the Eastern and Byzantine Empires until 1453.
As a legal system, Roman law has affected the development of law in most of Western civilization and the East.
Development of the jus civile and jus gentium
Roman law, like other ancient systems, originally adopted the principle of personality-that is, that the law of the state applied only to its citizens.
- By the middle of the 3rd century bce, however, another type of law, known as Jus Gentium (the law of nations), was developed by the Romans to be applied both to themselves and to foreigners.
- The magistrates and governors who were responsible for administering justice in cases in which foreigners were involved.
Written and unwritten law
The Romans divided their law into jus scriptum (written law) and jus non-scriptum (unwritten law).
- Leges (singular lex) consisted of enactments of one of the assemblies of the whole Roman people.
- A second type of written law consisted of the edicta (edicts), or proclamations issued by a superior magistrate (praetor) on judicial matters, until about 131 ce, when the emperor Hadrian commissioned their reorganization and consolidation and declared the resulting set of laws to be unalterable, except by the emperor himself.
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