IndexIntroductionAncient lawFirst legal codeApplication of Roman lawConclusionIntroduction Roman law was the law in force throughout the age of antiquity in the city of Rome and subsequently in the Roman Empire. When Roman rule over Europe ended, Roman law was largely, though not completely, forgotten. (Ancient Rome, Compton's 96) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first code of Roman law was the Law of the Twelve Tables. It was formalized in 451-450 BC by existing oral law by ten magistrates, called decemvirs, and inscribed on bronze tablets, which were posted in the main Roman Forum. According to tradition, the code was drawn up to please the plebs, who believed that their liberties were not adequately protected by the unwritten law interpreted by the patrician judges. (Ancient Rome, Compton's 96) Originally there were ten tables of laws inscribed; two more tablets were added the following year. The tablets were destroyed during the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 BC, but a number of the laws are known through references in later Latin literature. The Twelve Tables covered all categories of the law and also provided specific penalties for various infractions. The code underwent frequent changes but remained in force for almost 1000 years. In the 6th century, a commission appointed by the Roman emperor Justinian consolidated all sources of law, giving life to the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law). The Corpus Juris had no immediate effect in Western Europe, but in the second half of the 11th century it was rediscovered in Italy. The study of law based on Corpus Juris was established in European universities, and Corpus Juris became an important part of continental law. (Ancient Rome, Compton's 96) Combined with canon law and merchant customs, they formed a body of law known throughout continental Europe. During the 17th and 18th centuries the authority of the Corpus Juris began to decline as it was reviewed. The stage was set for the codification of modern civil law. In the 19th century, most civil law countries codified most of their legal statutes. The first law Before the Twelve Tables, the law of Rome had a religious character and its interpretation was up to the priests, who were members of the patrician class. The complaints and agitations of the plebs, of the common people, led to the reduction in writing of existing legal customs and the addition of new principles unknown to customary law. The Law of the Twelve Tables thus drawn up was submitted to and accepted by the popular assembly. This code established simple rules suitable for an agricultural community; it established equal rights for patricians and plebs and was prized by the Romans as the source of all public and private law. The legal system established by this code, and the set of rules that developed around it, applied exclusively to Roman citizens and was known as the ius civili. (Ancient Rome, Compton's 96) The laws of the Twelve Tables are one of the earliest legal codes in existence. Covering both civil and criminal matters, these laws are commonly believed to have served to codify existing customs. They provide not only valuable insight into Roman law, but also into Roman culture. Here are some excerpts from the translated version. Quickly kill... a horribly deformed child. If a father delivers a son for sale three times, the son will be free from the father. A child born ten months after the death of the father will not be eligible for legal inheritance. Females will also remain under guardianshipwhen they have reached the age of majority... with the exception of the Vestal Virgins. The spendthrift is prohibited from managing his own assets. People will have to repair the roads. If they don't put them under stone, one will lead his animals wherever he wants. It is permitted to gather fruit that falls on another man's farm. If anyone has sung or composed a song against another person that causes defamation or insult to another, he will be beaten to death. If a person has mutilated a limb of another, let there be retaliation in kind, unless he agrees with him for a settlement. Mixed marriages between plebeians and patricians cannot take place. The effects of the conquest of Roman dominion on the Mediterranean basin forced the Romans to develop a new legal system. Each conquered territory had its own system and a body of laws applicable to both citizens and subjects was needed. Between about 367 BC and 137 AD the new law was developed by the edicts of the praetor, or magistrate, who defined and interpreted the law in individual cases. The praetor of foreigners administered justice in Rome in all disputes, except those in which both parties were citizens; the praetor, or provincial magistrate, modeled his edicts in matters of commercial interest on the edict of the foreign praetor in Rome. (Civil Law, Comptons 96) In the last century of the republic the rules of the new system were generally made applicable to disputes between Roman citizens. This new legal system was known as jus gentium. The extension of citizenship during the years 100 BC to 212 AD to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire made the distinction between jus gentium and jus civili obsolete, and the citizen law or jus civili of Rome became the law of the empire. Provincial differences were erased by the legislation of the senate and the emperor and by legal interpretation. The most significant development in the Roman legal system of this period was the right granted by the first Roman emperor Augustus and his successors to eminent jurists to provide responsa, or opinions, on legal cases submitted for trial in the courts. Among the most famous of these Roman jurists were Gaius (flourished in the 2nd century AD), Papinianus, Julius Paulus (flourished in the 3rd century AD), and Ulpianus, the last three of whom subsequently held the office of praefectus praetoria, or minister of justice of the Roman Empire. Empire. (Ancient Rome, Comptons 96) Augustus, the first ruler of Rome after it became an empire, restored civil order, peace, and prosperity to a Rome that had suffered several decades of civil war. Born Gaius Octavius ​​and adopted by Julius Caesar, he was given the name Augustus, meaning "consecrated", by the Roman Senate after avenging Caesar's death and consolidating his power. He later received the title imperator, from which the word "emperor" comes. (Ancient Rome, Comptons 96) Octavian Augustus was truly the greatest civil leader the ancient world ever produced. When he came to Rome after Caesar's assassination, his only assets were an inherited name and whatever charms his youth might bring; but with cold and sagacious steps he quickly made his way towards Caesar's policy of revenge. Thanks to his good sense, moderation and conscientious attention to duty, Augustus won the support of all the main elements of the Mediterranean world. In many provinces, which now enjoyed more attentive government and suffered less from extortion, he was made a god, and the month of his last exploit was named after him. Augustus lived to be 76 years old. In the last year he reworked an account of the great deeds accomplished for the Roman state. The original version in Rome has disappeared, but another copy of this work was carved on the temple of Augustus at Ancyra and still survives.During his administration of the Roman Empire, the disaster that most shocked Augustus occurred in Germany. While Augustus remained at peace with the Parthians, he advanced the Roman frontier in Europe as far as the Danube and the Rhine. With this advance he subjected modern Switzerland, Austria, much of Hungary and the Balkans to Roman rule and protected the connections between the western and eastern provinces of the Empire; no other Roman leader did such a thing. (Augustus Caesar, Comptons 96)In 9 AD Varies, governor of Germany, was lured into a trap and three Roman legions were annihilated; all of Germany was lost. Since Augustus had neither the energy nor the military strength to initiate a reconquest, the Roman frontier remained essentially on the Rhine. However, the Mediterranean world achieved peace and prosperity under the rule of Augustus, celebrated in temples, statues and dedications as a redeemer land. The Empire was costly in its demands for men for the armed forces and money to support the political system, but the concomitant economic expansion supported these burdens without great difficulty for two centuries or more. First Legal Code In the 3rd century AD, the decrees or laws issued by the emperors acquired growing importance in the Roman legal system. Theodosius II, ruler of the Byzantine Empire, published the first codification of this imperial legislation, the Codex Theodosianus, in 438 AD. Theodosius considered, but did not carry out, a larger plan, which involved an official summary of the older law, as set out in the legal literature. Justinian I subsequently appointed a committee of ten jurists, the most famous of whom was his chief legal minister, Tribonianus, to draw up such a summary. (Exouedate.com)In the 6th century AD, the Eastern Roman emperor, Justinian (Iustinianus), ordered the compilation of several law codes. These codes were based on much older legal sources, mostly statutes and legal writings from the classical period. They were the Institutes (Institutiones), the Digest (Digesta or Pandectae) and the Code (Codex). The Institutes is a book largely copied from the Institutes of Gaius, written 300 years earlier. The rules contained in the Institutes have had legal value in many countries; consequently the work can be considered both a textbook and a statute. The Digest is a collection of fragments of academic writings. Like the norms contained in the Institutes, the legal opinions expressed in these fragments often had legal value. The Code is a collection of imperial statutes. The Novellae are a collection of the laws issued by Justinian and his successors. The revised Codex Constitutionum was a compilation of all imperial legislation up to 534 AD. The law books published by Justinian, the Institutiones, the Digesta and the Codex, together with the Novellae, are collectively known as the Corpus Juris Civilis. (Exouedate.com) Application of Roman Law In the Middle Ages (from about the 11th century onwards) there was a renewed interest in Roman law. Initially, Roman law was studied only by scholars and taught in universities, Bologna being the first place where it was taught. Roman law soon came to be applied in legal practice, especially in the field of civil law. (Civil Law, Comptons 96) This process of (re-)adoption (reception) of Roman law occurred at different times and to varying degrees throughout Europe (England being the most notable exception). Thus, from about the 16th century, Roman law was in force in much of Europe. However, in the process of adoption/reception many Roman rules were amalgamated or modified to adapt to the legal rules of various European nations. Therefore, the Roman rules, applied in Europe in this period, were not at all.