Kara Sears
The legal system of ancient Rome, known as Roman law, has had a profound influence on the development of law in Western civilisation and parts of the East. Roman laws covered a wide range of topics, including crime and punishment, land ownership, commerce, citizenship, and slavery. The history of Roman law can be divided into three systems: legis actiones, the formulary system, and cognitio extra ordinem. The primary way of creating new laws was through the Roman Assemblies, where male citizens voted. However, laws were also established via statutes, magisterial decisions, emperor's edicts, and senatorial decrees. The office of praetor, the second-highest ranking official, was responsible for administering justice and enforcing the laws. The complexity of Roman law led to the emergence of jurists, specialists trained in interpreting and generating opinions on the law. The emperor also played a significant role in legal matters, with their proposals becoming the true instrument of power. The first set of Roman laws was the Twelve Tables, published in 451 BC, which covered civil, criminal, and military law.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First source of Roman law | Twelve Tables |
| Roman law established through | Statutes, magisterial decisions, emperor's edicts, senatorial decrees, assembly votes, plebiscites, deliberations of expert legal counsel |
| Roman law covered | Crime and punishment, land and property ownership, commerce, maritime and agricultural industries, citizenship, sexuality and prostitution, slavery and manumission, politics, liability and damage to property, preservation of the peace |
| Roman law named after | Sponsoring legislator |
| Roman law applied to | Roman citizens |
| Types of written law | Senatus consulta, constitutiones principum |
| Roman law influenced | Development of law in most of Western civilization as well as in parts of the East |
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What You'll Learn
The Twelve Tables
The original text of the Twelve Tables has not been preserved and was likely destroyed when Rome was conquered and burned by the Gauls in 387 BC. Knowledge about their contents is derived from fragments that survived and references in later juridical writings. The Twelve Tables were superseded by later changes in Roman law but were never formally abolished.
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The role of the emperor
However, as the empire entered a period of crisis due to political and economic issues, the role of the emperor evolved. The emperor's power increased, especially with the advent of Christian ideas, and they became the sole source of law, no longer needing the Senate's ratification. This marked a shift from the republican tradition to an absolute monarchy, with the emperor as the ruler and head of state. The emperor's laws were often given directly to the praetorian prefects, bypassing the Senate entirely.
During this time, the emperor took an active role in legal matters, particularly in response to private petitions. They typically acted on the advice of jurists, who were experts in legal matters. One famous example of an emperor creating a new law is Caracalla's edict of 212 CE, which granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Emperor Hadrian's edicts also played a significant role in shaping Roman law.
The emperor's power extended beyond law-making and into other areas of governance. For example, they had the power to make treaties, hold sessions and propose motions to the Senate, and endorse candidates in elections. The emperor's legitimacy was tied to their control of the army and recognition by the Senate, and their rule was often proclaimed by the troops.
Overall, the emperor's role in Roman law changed from being one of several sources of law to becoming the sole creator of laws, reflecting the shift from a republican to an imperial form of governance.
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Praetors and magistrates
The office of praetor was created in 367 BCE to handle legal matters involving citizens. Praetors were among the most powerful Roman magistrates with imperium or legal power. They led armies, presided over law courts, and administered the law. The praetor urbanus (city praetor) was responsible for judging matters between citizens, while the peregrinus settled cases among foreigners.
Praetors were elected annually, and upon taking office, they issued an edict outlining the legal principles they intended to follow during their year in office. This edict was effectively the programme for their term. The incoming praetor had some discretion to modify the edict of their predecessor, but they often simply adopted its contents. Praetors usually consulted with Roman jurists when deciding whether to modify the edict.
The Praetor's Edict, or Edictum praetoris, was an important vehicle for the evolution of Roman civil law. It contained many different principles of law, drawing on prior legal rulings and regulating procedural matters such as the initiation of a legal suit. Over time, the edicts of praetors became an instrument of legal reform, and they were used to supplement, explain, and improve the ius civile or civil law. This development of praetoric law alongside civil law was defined by the Roman jurist Papinian as:
> "Praetoric law is that law introduced by praetors to supplement or correct civil law for public benefit".
Magistrates were responsible for the adaptation of existing laws (ius honorarium) rather than the creation of new legislation. They had the power to provide or refuse judicial remedies and determine the form these would take. The senatus consulta, or resolutions of the Roman senate, had no legislative force during the republic, but they could be given force by the edicts of magistrates. In the early empire, as the power of the emperor increased, these resolutions became endorsements of the emperor's proposals.
In the Imperial era, the emperor took an active role in legal matters, particularly in response to private petitions, and they acted as a judge when conflicts arose between Roman law and local provincial laws. Emperors issued new legal edicts, known as constitutions, which replaced earlier praetorian edicts, centralising legal power around the emperor and diminishing the influence of praetors.
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Roman citizenship
The Roman legal system was a sophisticated one, influencing the development of law in most Western civilisations and parts of the East. Roman laws covered all aspects of daily life, from crime and punishment to land and property ownership, commerce, maritime and agricultural industries, citizenship, sexuality and prostitution, slavery and manumission, politics, liability and damage to property, and preservation of the peace.
Citizenship could be acquired through various means. To be born a citizen, both parents had to be free citizens of Rome. Citizenship could also be acquired by completing a public service, such as serving in the non-Roman auxiliary forces. Cities could acquire citizenship through the implementation of Latin law, wherein people of a provincial city of the empire could elect people to public office and, therefore, give the elected official citizenship. There were classes of citizenship, which varied over time. The cives Romani were full Roman citizens, who enjoyed full legal protection under Roman law. They were sub-divided into two classes: the non optimo iure, who held the rights of property and marriage, and the optimo iure, who held these rights and the additional rights to vote and hold office.
The oldest document detailing the rights of citizenship is the Twelve Tables, ratified around 449 BC. The Twelve Tables were the first Roman law code, establishing rules that governed the relationship between the patricians and plebeians. The Tables detail the rights of citizens in dealing with court proceedings, property, inheritance, death, and, in the case of women, public behaviour. During the time of Ancient Rome, the Tables were displayed in full in the Roman Forum for all to see.
The Lex Julia, passed in 90 BC, granted the rights of the cives Romani to all Latini and socii states that had not participated in the Social War, or who were willing to cease hostilities immediately. This was extended to all the Italian socii states when the war ended, effectively eliminating socii and Latini as legal and citizenship definitions. Provinciales were those who fell under Roman control but lacked the rights of the foederati, essentially only having the rights of the rules and laws common to nations under Rome's rule.
In AD 212, the Edict of Caracalla granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Before this edict, a significant number of provincials were non-Roman citizens. Roman citizens were expected to perform certain duties to the state to retain their rights as citizens. Failure to perform these duties could result in the loss of privileges, as seen during the Second Punic War when men who refused military service lost their right to vote.
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Influence on modern law
Roman law has had a profound influence on the development of law in most of Western civilization and parts of the East. It has shaped the legal systems of many countries, including those that were never subject to Roman rule.
One of the most significant impacts of Roman law is the creation of comprehensive legal codes that covered various aspects of daily life, including crime and punishment, land ownership, commerce, citizenship, and slavery. This multi-faceted approach to legislation provided a flexible framework that could adapt to changing circumstances. The Romans also divided their laws into written and unwritten categories, with the former encompassing not only laws derived from legislation but also those based on any written source, such as assemblies of the Roman people or resolutions by the Senate.
The Roman legal system played a pivotal role in establishing the concept of adapting existing laws rather than solely creating new ones. This approach, known as ius honorarium, allowed magistrates to issue edicts that supported, supplemented, or corrected existing laws to meet the evolving needs of society. The annual Praetor's Edict, for instance, outlined permissible cases, defences, and exceptions while assessing and adjusting legal policy as necessary.
The influence of Roman law extended beyond its content and methodology. The organisational structure of the Roman legal system, including the office of the praetor, who oversaw legal matters involving citizens and foreigners, left a lasting impact. The Roman system of procedure empowered magistrates to provide or deny judicial remedies and shape their form. This magisterial system contributed to the development of the jus honorarium, a set of rules that existed alongside and sometimes superseded other laws.
The legacy of Roman law can be observed in the legal traditions of specific countries and regions. For example, in Germany, Roman law served as "subsidiary law" until the adoption of a common code for the empire in 1900. While it was not in its original form, its foundation was the Corpus Juris Civilis, the codifying legislation attributed to Emperor Justinian I. Similarly, English and Anglo-American common law adopted Latinate legal terminology from Roman law. In Eastern Europe, the jurisprudence of the Corpus Juris Civilis influenced countries like medieval Romania, which blended Roman law with local legislation.
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Frequently asked questions
The first source of Roman law was the Twelve Tables, published by the Decemviri in 451 BC. The Twelve Tables covered issues of civil, criminal and military law.
Roman laws were made and changed in a variety of ways, including through statutes, magisterial decisions, emperor's edicts, senatorial decrees, assembly votes, plebiscites, and the deliberations of expert legal counsel. During the Roman Republic, the emphasis was on the adaptation of existing laws by magistrates rather than the creation of new legislation. In the Imperial era, the Emperor took a more active role in legal matters, particularly in response to private petitions.
Roman laws were enforced by an official called the praetor, who was the second-highest ranking official in the Roman Republic. The praetor was responsible for the administration of justice.
