Ancient Rome Roman Law is the legal system of Ancient Rome > Ancient Rome; powerful and important civilization Ruled much of Europe for almost a 1000 years > Expanded to become one of the largest empires in the world > Ruled from around 753 BC to it's fall in 476 ADee History of The Roman Civilization 753 BC — the City of Rome was founded — the Roman Kingdom » 509 BC — The Roman Republic was established > 27 BC - Ancient Roman Empire was founded (Augustus - the first emperor) > 285 AD - Division into Western and Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) > 476 AD - Decline of the Western Roman Empire 1453 AD — Decline of the Eastern Roman EmpireTypes of Classes >The citizens of Rome were divided into two classes: Patricians and Plebeians > Patricians (noble people) were the descendent of the noble and wealthy families. »Plebeians or common people or peasants worked for the Patricians and had no political rights.Sources of Roman Legal System > Customs and usage > Legislation - most laws were passed by assemblies dominated by patrician families > Edicts and proclamations issued by magistrates (rulings of magistrates were important) » Laws issued by the emperor — (later emperors issued their own decrees) > Interpretations of jurists (had the force of law)Origins of Roman law >» When the Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE, Romans already possessed a body of customary law (non-written law based on customs and traditions) This customary law ("ius") only applied to Roman citizens and was thus called "ius civile" (civil law, law of citizens) >In the early phases of Roman history, only the patricians could hold political offices.I The Twelve Tables > Asa result, in 449 BCE a legal document called the Twelve Tables was published. > This is the foundation of Roman law and remained the most important legal text in the Roman state for many centuries. >The Twelve Tables included not only the law that applied directly to citizens, but also aspects of public law, religious law, and legal procedure. >The Twelve Tables did not rewrite existing law or create new law. » Rather, they simply transferred established customary law (ius) to a written form (lex).The Twelve Tables Created when everyone wanted to know what the laws were after Rome became a republic. 1. Table One- Proceedings Preliminary to Trial 2. Table Two- Trial 3. Table Three- Execution of Judgment 4. Table Four-Paternal Power 5. Table Five- Inheritance and Guardianship 6. Table Six- Ownership and Possession 7. Table Seven- Real Property 8. Table Eight- Torts or Delicts 9. Table Nine-Public Law 10. Table Ten- Sacred Law 11. Table Eleven- Supplementary Laws 12. Table Twelve- Supplementary Laws$$ Rome’s expansion is Roman law’s expansion The condition of citizen of Rome was a rather privileged one, e.g. since 167 BCE citizens didn't pay taxes. >The expansion of the Roman state led to the necessity of developing law that applied also to the steadily growing number of non-citizens under Roman jurisdiction. > Two new branches of law were developed: The "ius gentium" ("law of the peoples", "law of the nations"), and the "ius naturale" (natural law).lus gentium and lus naturale >In Roman law jus gentium referred to the rules and laws that were common to the various nations or peoples under the Roman empire and were used in cases between non- Roman citizens or between a Roman and a non-Roman citizen » Jus naturale is Latin for natural law, which is a philosophical system of legal and moral principles that are purported to be based on human nature and moralistic ideals of right and wrong rather than on legislation, judicial action, or statutes.Justinian Code/ Corpus iuris civilis > Justinian Code created by Emperor Justinian > Code was made to combine all of Rome's laws and unify Rome's empire under one system. >In the late 16th c., these books were called “Corpus iuris ci >The code consisted of 4 parts “Digest” “Codex Justinianius “Institutiones “Novellae lis” (“body of civil law”)Other Important Roman Laws Lex Canuleia The lex Canuleia was passed in the year 445 BC, restoring the right of marriage between patricians and plebeians. Lex Hortensia According to this law ,the resolutions of the plebeians (plebiscites) were made binding on all the citizens without requiring the approval of the Senate and so were equivalent to measures passed by the other assemblies. Lex Aquilia This Law provided compensation to the owners of property injured by someone's fault, set in the 3rd century BC, in the Roman Republic. This law protected Roman citizens from some forms of theft, vandalism, and destruction of property.The roots of all civil law systems >All later systems of law in the West borrowed heavily from it, including the civil law systems of continental Europe, Latin America, parts of Africa. >To a lesser but still notable extent also the English common law system, from which American law is principally derived, borrowed from the Corpus iuris civilis.Rome’s expansion is Roman law’s expansion >The condition of citizen of Rome was a rather privileged one, e.g. since 167 BCE citizens didn't pay taxes. >The expansion of the Roman state led to the necessity of developing law that applied also to the steadily growing number of non-citizens under Roman jurisdiction. » Two new branches of law were developed: s gentium" ("law of the peoples", "law of the nations"), and the "ius naturale" (natural law).Corpus luris Civilis The Digest or Pandects (533 CE) collected and summarized (in 50 books) all of the classical jurists’ writings on law and justice. The Code (534 CE) outlined the actual laws of the empire, citing imperial constitutions, legislation and pronouncements. The Institutes (535 CE) were a smaller work that summarized the Digest, intended as a textbook for students of law. A fourth work, the Novella (Novellae), was not a part of Justinian’s project, but was created separately by legal scholars in 556 to update the Code with new laws created after 534 and summarize Justinian’s own constitution.