Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

the law specifically allowed notable and wealthy persons to avoid giving security in the first place, on the theory that they were too visible and too liquid to try to avoid the legal pro cess. Additionally, there was the risk of actual financial loss for plaintiffs in some suits. A common form of litigation involved the wager of a symbolic sum of money over the disputed issue; once this was settled, the actual damages were assessed and awarded in a second stage of proceedings. The sum wagered was tied to the actual value of the suit, and while it was sym bolic, it was not merely nominal. A working person might well not have been able to risk the loss even if she had a strong case. Moreover, at least in earlier times, the sum had to be deposited in advance in order for the case to proceed. A poor man might not be able to come up with this amount of cash. In the ordinary course of things, the parties to a suit were also important witnesses, and so their personal credibility came into play at trial. This was particularly important in a society that put such high value on “character” in legal proceedings. This value stemmed from several presuppositions about per sonality. First, it was assumed that character did not change much, at least over the course of adult life. Second, character was fairly simple. It could be defined generally as good or bad, perhaps with a few more specific tendencies (boldness or timid ity, greed or generosity, etc.). Third, this general character was Credibility

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