Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

good behavior, performance during some crisis, or services to an important Roman individual, was granted these rights as a sign of favor. In some cases individuals were given the right to choose under which system their cases would be decided. • Status of the participants . A governor would be more likely to intervene in a case involving more important persons. In particular, he might step in (perhaps thereby imposing Roman law) in cases involving Roman citizens. He might even do so in contradiction of the kind of local agreements just discussed. For instance, the murder of a Roman citizen in his province was known to attract a governor’s attention no matter what the formal arrangements. • Time and space . Different provinces developed their own traditions, lasting beyond the terms of individual governors. At least in some cases these customs were treated as vir tual laws, though it is unlikely that they were technically binding. That said, there was also a general trend across the empire to establish increasingly clear rules over time. • Substantive versus procedural law . In principle, it would be possible for Roman procedures (e.g., the two-phase trial, the use of a formula) to be followed even if the substan tive rules to be applied (hierarchies of intestate succession, say, or requirements for a valid contract) were local. In fact, there seem to be at least a few cases in which we know just this pattern was followed (e.g., “sacred” provincial land; see Chapter 20 and the following discussion). It has been suggested, though, that the principle applied much more

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