Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

there were self-described “Roman emperors” in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) for almost another 1,000 years. This period is often described as “Byzantine” (the capital city had a third name – Byzantium). Justinian, whose central importance to Roman law we will see later, was one of those Byzantine emperors (ruled 527–565).

Periods of Legal History

The threefold division of Roman history just described is fairly standard in political, social, and military contexts. Within it, the center of gravity has tended (rightly or wrongly) to be placed in the late Republic and early Empire. Students of the law, however, have tended toward a fourfold division and a somewhat later focus. The periods they choose have a double definition. On the one hand, they reflect changes in political authority – who is allowed to interpret the law – as power moves from priests to the so-called jurists (who were sort of like law professors; see Chapter 5) to the emperors. On the other hand, each period seems to have a different characteristic feel in terms of the law itself. How fast and how far does it change? How consistent and systematic is it? This fourfold scheme begins with an archaic period, dat ing from the earliest days of Roman law to an ill-defined date somewhere in the third or second century bc This is followed by a late Republican “formative” or “pre-classical” phase lasting until the end of the (political) Republic and

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