Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Law in the Provinces

debate over most of the specifics, but in general we can say that the disputes involved some combination of Roman law, inter nationalized Greek law, and some more local systems (Jewish and/or Nabataean Arab). It is difficult to figure out the precise balance in part because we have incomplete knowledge of all these systems and in part because the documents almost never make it clear what framework(s) they take for granted. Still, at a minimum we can say that at least some of the disputes were under the jurisdiction of Roman authorities. At least one of the disputes seems to have been framed not only by Roman for mulary procedure (where a government official instructs [per haps local] judges who actually decide the case), but also using the specific wording of a relevant Roman formula (Chapter 11; for the documents, see [26] ). Several of the contracts end with a record of the question-and-answer ritual of the Roman stipulatio contract (Chapter 12). Now, it is possible that the Romanization here is quite shallow. Given the lack of supervi sion in the Roman judicial system even in Rome, a non-Roman judge, with or without benefit of a formula, might well rely on the substance of local laws. And the tacked-on references to stipulatio form suggest an audience that didn’t really care (and perhaps didn’t even really understand) what it was about. Still, some level of Romanization is undeniable. On the other hand, substantial elements of local law are still in play. Several of the documents revolve around the guardians of Babatha’s son Jesus. Both the number of these and their method of appoint ment are non-Roman. Intestate succession in the documents seems to put sons ahead of daughters (contrary to Roman law;

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