Several good websites on Roman law make it less necessary to give here detailed and extensive information. We treat here successively of the history of Roman law, its structure, character and content, the sources and the modern scientific literature. At the bottom of this page there are links to important sites on Roman law.
History of Roman law
The earliest history of Roman law is lost forever. Rome existed already as an Etruscan town in the eight century B.C. The first known source of Roman law are the Laws of the Twelve Tables from the mid-fifth century B.C., written in early Latin. After the period of the kings two consuls and the Senate governed Rome. Only few people knew something of the law before the Twelve Tables were erected to provide some legal security. Members of well-to-do families, most of them patricians and senators, gave juridical advice when asked for. The Senate itself proposed laws or voted on proposals of the consuls. More is known about the period of the Late Republic (200-30 B.C.). The praetor, one of the Roman magistrates, published each year his edict in which he announced how he would apply the laws. The censors had a legal task, too, the upholding of mores. From Cicero’s pleas and letters one gets a vivid picture of actual jurisdiction during the Late Republic. Legal experts started to write books. In this period Rome had grown from a tiny city state into a vast reign.
The Roman theatre at Orange with a marble statue of the emperor Augustus
During the Principate great jurists were active, who were sometimes employed by the emperor. Famous among them were Ulpian, Papinian, Paul and Julian. The mysterious Gaius wrote an introductory law book, the Institutes, almost the only completely surviving manual. The letters of governor Pliny show some of the legal questions he posed to the emperor. The praetorial edict became fixed. Emperor Theodosian tried to impose some legal order with his code of law. During the confusing times of the Late Imperium Justinian (early sixth century) tried to unify law by codification on all levels. Imperial decrees were collected and edited into a new Code, followed by later decrees, the Novellae. Iustinian also charged a committee with making an anthology of the classical Roman lawyers, the Digestae or Pandectae. To crown his achievement, Justinian decreed a manual of law compulsory for all legal education. His Institutes are written using Gaius’ Institutes. The Justinian codification was the starting point for the new study, renewal and revival of Roman law during the Middle Ages.
The structure, character and content of Roman law
Roman law is first and foremost private law, law of and between citizens. In relation to it public law and the law of nations are less important. Roman law is concerned with the relationships between people, their legal actions, and the right they have on goods. Legal persons were in particular the fathers of families, the proverbial pater familias. They held great power over their wives, children and slaves. An important element is the law of procedure. The archaic Roman law was characterized by a lot of ritualized legal formulae to which one had to stick as close as possible. In a later phase one is able to choose one or more legal actions, a matter which called for interpretation: which action? Parties ruled their conflicts themselves. A judge only appeared in a final phase of the case. For centuries there were no courts. In the great public trials, like the ones in which Cicero became famous, his role was more akin to that of an orator than to the role of a modern solicitor.
Roman law is remarkable for the detailed yet succinct way one treated cases. One looked principally at things by dealing with concrete or imaginary cases (see the examples). This casuistic aspect is more important than any systematic view. One did not write a theory of damage, but about a car hitting someone on the Capitol (see D. 126.96.36.199). Of course one has tried to systematize Roman law. The great Roman lawyers treated all kind of cases when writing on several subjects or commenting the edict of the praetor. The real heart of Roman law was hereditary law. Apart from legal procedure, family law, the law of goods, and the law of obligations are the other main areas. The juridical content and leval of Roman law is of such a quality that it has deeply influenced directly and indirectly lawyers of all times and places. It brought with it a great prestige because of Roman history.
Sources of Roman law
During the ages many sources have been lost forever. Scholars divide the sources into pre-Justinian and Justinian. One has reconstructed the Twelve Tables from the works of later lawyers. The praetorial edict has been transmitted in the same way. The Code of Justinian preserves decrees of earlier emperors. Thanks to their inscriptions we know which emperor pronounced which decree. The Digest was made from a large collection of legal works into an anthology centered mostly around some of the great classical lawyers. The inscription at every lex or law give a clue to its origin, and thus we know many of these authors and a number of their works. The laws have been organised around particular subjects in tituli. These tituli have been gathered into 50 libri. In some modern languages, including English, exist modern translations of the sources included in the Corpus Iuris Civilis.
Justinian – versions at the Latin Library
- Iustiniani Digestae, Theodor Mommsen and Paul Krueger (eds.) (Berlin 1882; editio minor; many reprints) – translations: Digesten, J.E. Spruit, K.E.M. Bongenaar and R. Feenstra (eds.) (5 vol., The Hague-Zutphen 1994-2001; Corpus Iuris Civilis. Tekst en vertaling, II-VI); The Digest of Justinian, Alan Watson (ed.) (4 vol., Philadelphia, Pa., 1985; also translation only in two volumes (1997)).
- Iustiniani Institutiones, Paul Krüger (ed.) (Berlin 1872; editio stereotypa) – some translations with facing text: Instituten, by J.E. Spruit, K.E.M. Bongenaar and R. Feenstra (The Hague-Zutphen 1993; revised ed., Amsterdam 2007); De Instituten van Iustinianus, by A.C. Oltmans (4th ed., Haarlem 1967); Justinian’s Institutes, P. Birks and G. McLeod (London 1987).
- Codex Iustinianus, Paul Krüger (ed.) (Berlin 1877; editio stereotypa; many reprints) – translation: Codex Iustinianus, J.E. Spruit., J.M.J. Chorus and L. de Ligt (3 vol., Amsterdam 2005-2010; Corpus Iuris Civilis. Tekst en vertaling, VII-IX); Fred. H. Blume, The annotated Justinian Code, (University of Wyoming)
- Novellae, R. Schöll and G. Kroll (eds.) (Berlin 1895; 5th ed., 1928; reprint 1954) – translation: Novellae, J.E. Spruit et alii (3 vol., Amsterdam 2011; Corpus Iuris Civilis. Tekst en vertaling, X-XII); Fred H. Blume, Introduction [and translation] of Justinian’s Novels (University of Wyoming)
- Codex Theodosianus: Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis, Th. Mommsen and P. Meyer (eds.) (Berlin 1905; last reprint 1971) – translation: The Theodosian Code…, Cl. Pharr (Princeton 1952); the text of Mommsen and Meyer is also online at the Projet Volterra; see among editions in particular the edition by Jacques Godefroy (6 vol., Leipzig 1736-1745), online at Polib (Lille).
- Gaius: Gaii Institutiones, G. Studemund and P. Krüger (eds.) (7th ed., Berlin 1923); also edited by M. David and H.L.W. Nelson (Leiden 1948) – some translations with facing text: De Instituten van Gaius by A.C. Oltmans (3rd ed., Haarlem 1967); by J.E. Spruit and K.E.M. Bongenaar (Zutphen 1982); by W.M. Gordon and O.F. Robinson, The Institutes of Gaius (London 1988); see also this searchable version at the Intratext Library.
- pre-Justinian legal sources: Fontes Iuris Romani Anteiustiniani [FIRA] (3 vol., Florence 1941-1943; reprint 1964-1968) – many of these texts appear with Dutch translations in: J.E. Spruit and K.E.M. Bongenaar, Het erfdeel van de klassieke Romeinse juristen (4 vol., Zutphen 1982-1987).
- Otto Lenel, Palingenesia iuris civilis I-II (Leipzig 1889) – reprint 1961 with additions by L.E. Sierl, reprint Rome 2000.
- Otto Lenel, Das Edictum perpetuum. Ein Versuch seiner Wiederherstellung (3rd ed., Leipzig 1927; reprint Aalen 1956, 1974).
There exist two modern editions of Roman statutes:
- Roman statutes, Michael H. Crawford (ed.) (2 vol., London 1996).
- Die Gesetze der frühen römischen Republik. Text und Kommentar, Dieter Flasch (ed.) (Darmstadt 2004).
A number of other sources is also available online:
- Leges duodecim tabularum – the Laws of the Twelve Tables, 451 B.C., using the edition of Bruns and Gradenwitz.
- Senatusconsultum de bacchanalibus – 186 B.C.
- Diocletian, Edictum de pretiis rerum venalium – 301 A.D., the famous price edict.
- E-texts of Roman law – a collection of Roman law texts, University of Grenoble.
- Intratext Digital Library – the versions of the Institutiones Iustiniani, the Codex and the Digest are very good searchable
The translation by Samuel P. Scott of the Twelve Tables, the Digest, Code, the Novellae, the Institutes of Gaius and of Justinian is available online: The Civil Law, including the Twelve Tables… (17 vol., Cincinnati 1932).
- Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford 1968-1976) – juridical terms are well covered here.
- Heumann, H.G., and E. Seckel, Handlexikon zu den Quellen des römischen Rechts (4th ed., Jena 1907; reprint Graz 1971) – very useful.
One could mention lots of books. First of all some introductory books that do not aim only at lawyers:
- Crook, J.A., Law and life in Rome (2nd ed., London-Ithaca, N.Y., 1978) – very readable.
- Watson, Alan, The spirit of Roman law (Atlanta, Ga., 1995).
- Alföldy, Géza, Römische Sozialgeschichte (3rd ed., Wiesbaden 1984).
- Bürge, Alfred, Römisches Privatrecht (Darmstadt 1999) – fresh and original, starting from procedure.
Mentioning particular titles is often dictated by tradition. For the “external” history:
- Spruit, J.E., Bibliografie Romeins recht. Wegwijzer tot de bronnen, hulpmiddelen en literatuur (Zutphen 1988).
- Spruit, J.E., Enchiridium. Overzicht van de geschiedenis van het Romeinse privaatrecht (3rd ed., Deventer 1992).
- Wieacker, Franz, Römische Rechtsgeschichte I. Einleitung, Quellenkunde. Frühzeit und Republik (Munich 1988).
- Jolowicz, H., and B. Nicholas, A historical introduction to the study of Roman law (3rd ed., Cambridge, etc., 1972).
- Wenger, Leopold, Die Quellen des römischen Rechts (Vienna 1953).
- Schulz, Fritz, History of Roman legal science (2nd ed., Oxford 1953) – an updated German translation: Geschichte der römischen Rechtswissenschaft (Weimar 1961; reprint Leipzig 1975).
- Liebs, Detlev, Die Jurisprudenz im spätantiken Italien (Berlin 1987).
- Tellegen-Couperus, Olga, A short history of Roman law (2nd ed., London-New York 1993).
- Fögen, Marie Theres, Römische Rechtsgeschichten. Über Ursprung und Evolution eines sozialen Systems (Göttingen 2002).
On the “internal” history, the dogmatic side of Roman law, many manuals have appeared. Think for instance of the books by German scholars from the 19th century Pandektistik, such as Britz, Dernburg, Vangerow, and Windscheid. Here just some titles:
- Mommsen, Theodor, Römisches Staatsrecht (Berlin 1877; reprint 1971).
- Bleicken, J., Die Verfassung der römischen Republik (7th ed., Paderborn 1995).
- Kaser, Max, Das Römische Privatrecht (2 vol.: I, 2nd ed., Munich 1971; II: 2nd ed., Munich 1975).
- Kaser, Max, Römisches Privatrecht, Rolf Knütel (ed.) (17th ed., Munich 2003) – translated into many languages.
- Kaser, Max, Das römische Zivilprozessrecht (Munich 1966) – the standard work.
- Oven, J.C. van, Leerboek van Romeinsch privaatrecht (3rd ed., Leiden 1948).
- Schulz, Fritz, Classical Roman law (Oxford 1961).
- Feenstra, Robert, Romeinsrechtelijke grondslagen van het Nederlands privaatrecht (4th ed., Leiden 1984).
- Spruit, J.E., Cunabula iuris (Deventer 2001).
- Ibbetson, D.J., A history of the law of obligations (Cambridge, etc., 1999) – written from a Common Law perspective.
Important scientific journals on Roman law are:
- Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Romanistische Abteilung – since 1880
- Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis – since 1918
- Studia et Documenta Historiae et Iuris – since 1935
- Revue Internationale des Droits de l’Antiquité – since 1948
- Iura. Rivista internazionale di diritto romano e antico – since 1950
- Labeo. Rassegna di diritto romano – since 1955
- Berolini website – this website at Groningen is often mistaken for the official site of the legal history department at Groningen
- Ius Civile – website at Aberdeen, also for the later periods of Roman law
- Leopold-Wenger-Institut für Rechtsgeschichte, München, Abteilung A, Antike Rechtsgeschichte – links and practical information for the field of ancient law (including Greek and cuneiform law)
- DRoits ANTiques database, Strasbourg – several databases here concern Classical Antiquity
- Gnomon Bibliographische Datenbank, Universität Eichstätt
- Ius Romanum – website at Saarbrücken with even a version in Latin
- The Roman Law Library, Université de Grenoble – a portal for Roman law and antiquity, with a very rich choice of texts, bibliographies, link collections and an extensive overview of digitized literature; you will find many works from the nineteenth century, but also the Corpus Iuris Civilis with medieval glosses, and authors like Donellus, Noodt, Vinnius and Pothier
- Perseus Digital Library – a website with searchable classical texts, Tufts University
- Projet Volterra – a website on Roman legislation maintained by University College London and the British Academy
- Bibliotheca Classica Selecta-Droit – the website of Jacques Poucet, Brussels, with many links
- Vinitor – this website was started by the late Roger Vigneron, Liège
- Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Charles Daremberg and Edmund Saglio (eds.) (5 parts in 10 vol., Paris, 1877-1919) – online at Toulouse