Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

The Legal Professions

speakers liked the prestige generated by posing as generous or civic-minded “patrons,” they were in fact engaged on a case by-case basis and normally expected some concrete show of the client’s gratitude. Prosecution was traditionally the domain of men of lesser standing because of their youth and/or lower birth, though exceptions on both scores were more numerous than has some times been suggested. The difference seems to be that defense produced friends, prosecution made enemies. Prosecution was largely left to those who needed to make a splash. Over time, patronage became less coherent, but no less important. Public speaking in general, whether in the courts, political venues, or ceremonial contexts, remained a multipurpose skill for social and political advancement. It is an open question how much law an advocate needed to know to be effective in his job, and in fact the issue was con troversial in antiquity. A number of sources from the mid first century bc to the early second ad discuss the issue, all from the point of view of advocates, rather than that of lawyers. Despite this uniformity, there was a considerable diversity of opinion on the question of legal knowledge. Some felt the good advocate would have a systematic (if not fully expert) knowl edge of the law. Others thought legal knowledge was largely irrelevant, could be sought by consultation on individual cases, or could even be counterproductive. Unfortunately, all these writers seem to be more concerned with reputation than practi cality. Does it make oratory look better if it absorbs and subor dinates the law, or if it can dismiss it altogether? The one thing

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