Fundamentals of Roman Private Law (original) (raw)
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The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society surveys the landscape of contemporary research and charts principal directions of future inquiry. More than a history of doctrine or an account of jurisprudence, the Handbook brings to bear upon Roman legal study the full range of intellectual resources of contemporary legal history, from comparison to popular constitutionalism, from international private law to law and society, thereby setting itself apart from other volumes as a unique contribution to scholarship on its subject. The Handbook brings the study of Roman law into closer alignment and dialogue with historical, sociological, and anthropological research into law in other periods. It will therefore be of value not only to ancient historians and legal historians already focused on the ancient world, but to historians of all periods interested in law and its complex and multifaceted relationship to society.
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Course description: In the thousand years between the Law of the Twelve Tables (451 BCE) and Justinian's massive Corpus Iuris Civilis (530 CE), the Romans developed the most sophisticated and comprehensive secular legal system of antiquity. Roman law is still at the heart of the civil law tradition of the European Continent and some of its former colonies in the Americas, Asia, and Africa, and it was instrumental in the development of international law, the church's canon law, and the common law tradition. The Roman lawyers created new legal concepts, ideas, rules and mechanisms that are still applied in the most Western legal systems. Specifically designed for American law students without a civil law or canon law background, this course introduces the Roman legal system in its social, political, and economic context. The course will cover the fundamental topics of private law (persons, property and inheritance, and obligations); the revival of Roman law in the Middle Ages; and the current impact of Roman law in the era of globalization. No knowledge of Roman history or of Latin is required, and all materials will be in English translation. Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the course on Roman law students will be able to: (i) demonstrate basic understanding of the foundations of Roman law from a comparative perspective; (ii) analyze and critically evaluate Roman legal concepts and rules covered in the course; (iii) present arguments based on Roman law sources in a well-structured manner (iv) exhibit a working knowledge of Property law, the law of succession, and the law of obligations (contracts and delicts); and (v) analyze the techniques of the Roman law of litigation. Final Examination: 1. The final examination for the course on Roman law will consist of an original research papers (i.e. expanded essay) or a written answer to any of the hypos we will discuss during the course. The title of the paper or the selection of the hypo must be approved by the instructor in advance. 2. The paper requires the writer to analyze a perspective or to argue a point. The paper should be about 4,000 words long. It should contain: an abstract, a main text, and some concluding reflections. The style should be similar to that of an op-ed for the New York Times. The answer to one of the hypos should be about 2,000 words long and should contain quotations related to the Corpus iuris or Roman legal sources.
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II. The in rem actiones are called vindicationes by Gaius, 3 which harmonizes with the terminology of legis actio sacramento in rem, and in iure cessio, as well as adoptio, vindicare in libertatem and vindicare hereditatem. 4 From the etymological attempts at defining the origin of the expressions "vindex", "vindicatio", "vindicta" the one proposed by Varro, 5 emphasizing the characteristic of force, "vim dicere" and relating the verb "dicere" to the core *deik (see also deiknyō, deiknymi) seems the most plausible, even if this cannot be undoubtedly demonstrated with modern linguistic evidence. 6 The word dikē is traditionally derived from the root *deik of the verb deiknymi (to show, to point at, to explain, to testify); its basic meaning of direction, way, custom is supplemented with the meanings customary procedure, decision, resolution, trial, and law. 7 (These two meanings, traditionally derived from each other are approached from a new aspect by Palmer who asserts that the meaning of signalling, custom, characteristic, particularity and the meaning decision, resolution, of the word dikē, originally the borderline drawn between two litigant parties derived from the root *deik, developed in parallel, independently from each other, and so neither of them can be considered secondary, derived from the other. 8) When trying to understand the structure of vindicatio, Varro's traditionally Roman etymology is of utmost importance, because it demonstrates the most clearly how the Romans themselves experienced and how they subsequently interpreted the most basic one of all the procedures termed as vindicatio, i.e., legis sacramento in rem. 9 It can be rightly assumed that in the beginning-and probably later on as well-the spear as weapon was nothing else than a long, sharp rod made of hard wood, and hardened in fire. 10 If the hasta was the weapon with which in the course of the fights they could win loot,
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