Was the Roman Empire just? Did Rome acquire her territories through just wars, and did Rome's rule exert a civilizing effect, ultimately beneficial for its subjects? Or was Roman imperialism a massive injustice - the bellicose conquest and absorption of countless peoples and large swaths of territory under false pretences, driven by greed and a lust for domination and glory? In The Wars of the Romans (1599), the important Italian jurist and Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford University Alberico Gentili (1552-1608) argues both sides of the debate. In the first book he lays out the case against the justice of the Roman Empire, and in the second book the case for.
Gentili's polemic and highly engaging work helped pioneer the use of Roman law and just war theory in what became a leading international law approach to the enduring questions of the justice of empire. Writing in the wake of the first wave of European colonial expansion in the Americas, and relying on models of the controversy about Roman imperialism from Cicero to Lactantius and Augustine, Gentili developed the arguments which were to become pivotal in normative debates concerning imperialism. In this work Gentili, a consummate Roman law scholar, frames the moral and practical issues in a combination of Roman legal terminology and the language of natural law, a combination which was to prove highly influential in the literature from Grotius onward on natural law, the law of nations and what eventually became international law.

Bringing together a team of international experts from different subject areas - including law, history, archaeology and anthropology - this book re-evaluates the traditional narratives surrounding the origins of Roman law before the enactment of the Twelve Tables. Much is now known about the archaic period, relevant evidence from later periods continues to emerge and new methodologies bring the promise of interpretive inroads. This book explores whether, in light of recent developments in these fields, the earliest history of Roman law should be reconsidered. Drawing on the critical axioms of contemporary sociological and anthropological theory, the contributors yield new insights and offer new perspectives on Rome's early legal history. In doing so, they seek to revise our understanding of Roman legal history as well as to enrich our appreciation of its culture as a whole.

This unique publication offers a complete history of Roman law, from its early beginnings through to its resurgence in Europe where it was widely applied until the eighteenth century. Besides a detailed overview of the sources of Roman law, the book also includes sections on private and criminal law and procedure, with special attention given to those aspects of Roman law that have particular importance to today's lawyer. The last three chapters of the book offer an overview of the history of Roman law from the early Middle Ages to modern times and illustrate the way in which Roman law furnished the basis of contemporary civil law systems. In this part, special attention is given to the factors that warranted the revival and subsequent reception of Roman law as the 'common law' of Continental Europe. Combining the perspectives of legal history with those of social and political history, the book can be profitably read by students and scholars, as well as by general readers with an interest in ancient and early European legal history. The civil law tradition is the oldest legal tradition in the world today, embracing many legal systems currently in force in Continental Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world. Despite the considerable differences in the substantive laws of civil law countries, a fundamental unity exists between them. The most obvious element of unity is the fact that the civil law systems are all derived from the same sources and their legal institutions are classified in accordance with a commonly accepted scheme existing prior to their own development, which they adopted and adapted at some stage in their history. Roman law is both in point of time and range of influence the first catalyst in the evolution of the civil law tradition.

Gerald Strauss offers a comprehensive study of a phenomenon of great interest to scholars of early modern Europe: the widespread opposition to Roman law and lawyers in sixteenth-century Germany. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book reflects the wide range of current scholarship on Roman law. The essays, newly commissioned for this volume, cover the sources of evidence for classical Roman law, the elements of private law, as well as criminal and public law, and the second life of Roman law in Byzantium, in civil and canon law, and in political discourse from AD 1100 to the present. Roman law nowadays is studied in many different ways, which is reflected in the diversity of approaches in the essays. Some focus on how the law evolved in ancient Rome, others on its place in the daily life of the Roman citizen, still others on how Roman legal concepts and doctrines have been deployed through the ages. All of them are responses to one and the same thing: the sheer intellectual vitality of Roman law, which has secured its place as a central element in the intellectual tradition and history of the West.

The colonization policies of Ancient Rome followed a range of legal arrangements concerning property distribution and state formation, documented in fragmented textual and epigraphic sources. When antiquarian scholars rediscovered and scrutinized these sources in the Renaissance, their analysis of the Roman colonial model formed the intellectual background for modern visions of empire. What does it mean to exercise power at and over distance? This book foregrounds the pioneering contribution to this debate of the great Italian Renaissance scholar Carlo Sigonio (1522/3-84). His comprehensive legal interpretation of Roman society and Roman colonization, which for more than two centuries remained the leading account of Roman history, has been of immense (but long disregarded) significance for the modern understanding of Roman colonial practices and of the legal organization and implications of empire. Bringing together experts on Roman history, the history of classical scholarship, and the history of international law, this book analyzes the context, making, and impact of Sigonio's reconstruction of the Roman colonial model. It shows how his legal interpretation of Roman colonization originated and how it informed the development of legal colonial discourse, from imperial reform and colonial independence in the nascent United States of America to Enlightenment accounts of property distribution. Through a detailed analysis of scholarly and political visions of Roman colonization from the Renaissance to today, this book shows the enduring relevance of legal interpretations of the Roman colonial model for modern experiences of empire.

This is a scholarly survey of the Law of Obligations from classical to modern times. It is a marvellous work of historical synthesis which discusses each contract, tort, and liability based on unjust enrichment with great clarity and traces their development over hundreds of years through the legal systems of Europe. It is not merely a work of Roman legal scholarship. It is a treasure-house of ideas and arguments as well as information and scholarship relating to the Law of Obligations. It will be used by scholars of private law throughout the world for many years to come.

This second edition of Tony Honore's controversial book analyzes some 2,609 legal rulings (rescripts) given by Roman Emperors between 193 and 305 AD, and argues that, though issued in the name of emperors, they were really both in style and substance the work of professional lawyers. From their style Honore is able to detect when one lawyer-draftsman gave way to another, and to identify some of the lawyers and allot most of the rescripts to the true author. On this basis he argues that in the third century there was a convention that the rights of citizens would be governed by objective legal standards. The Roman Empire was not in fact a pure autocracy. Extensively updated and edited, this edition includes on a high-density diskette a reconstruction (Palingenesia) of the 2,609 rescripts. This new and original work of reference will enable scholars to read the texts chronologically and to judge the soundness of the arguments advanced.

A study and revision guide for Scots law students of Roman law'Roman Law Essentials' provides a clear overview of the structure of Roman government and society. It first introduces the sources and development of Roman Law. Then, it examines the three keystones of Roman Law: The Law of Persons, The Law of Things and the Law of Actions. The final section appraises the reception of Roman Law into medieval Canon Law and the 'Ius Commune', from which many of the world's leading legal systems developed. The guide gives special attention to the evolution of Scots Law from Roman Law. Key FeaturesCase studies have been updated for the second editionCompares Roman law with other early legal systems to show why Roman law was special and how it was folded into other medieval legal structures in Europe and BritainSummary sections of Essential Facts and Essential Cases to help students remember the key elements of the subject

Combining historical, sociological, and legal expertise, Bruce Frier discloses the reasons for the emergence of law as a professional discipline in the later Roman Republic. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Jolowicz's classic work traces the development of Roman Law historically from the earliest times until the age of Justinian. Private Law is treated at some length for the republican period, but for imperial times the emphasis is on constitutional law and the sources of law, together with the procedure and structure of the judicial system. There are also chapters on social conditions and on the general characteristics of classical and post-classical law.

Two central themes run through The Due Process of Law. The first is the workings of the various "measures authorised by the law so as to keep the streams of justice pure"--that is to say, contempt of court, judicial inquiries, and powers of arrest and search. The second is the recent development of family law, focusing particularly on Lord Denning's contribution to the law of husband and wife. These broad themes are elaborated through a discussion of Lord Denning's own judgments and opinions on a wide range of topics.

Few topics have had a more profound impact on the study of Roman law in Britain than the lex Aquilia, a Roman statute enacted c.287/286 BCE to reform the Roman law on wrongful damage to property. This volume investigates this peculiarly British fixation against the backdrop larger themes such as the development of delict/tort in Britain and the rise of comparative law. Taken collectively, the volume establishes whether it is possible to identify a 'British' method of researching and writing about Roman law.

The Romans wrote solemn religious, public, and legal documents on wooden tablets often coated with wax. This book investigates the historical significance of this resonant form of writing and its power to make documents efficacious. It traces its role in court, its spread to the provinces (an aspect of Romanization) and its influence on the evolution of Roman law. Elizabeth Meyer reveals how Roman legal documents on tablets are the ancestors of today's dispositive legal documents--the document as the act itself. In a world where knowledge of Roman law was scarce (and enforcers scarcer), Roman law drew its authority from a wider world of belief.

This casebook presents representative texts from Roman legal sources that introduce the basic problems arising in Roman families, including marriage and divorce, the pattern of authority within households, the transmission of property between generations, and the supervision of orphans.

Rome acquired her great empire under republican institutions. These institutions were held to be remarkably stable because they were a mixture of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, created by natural evolution not by a lawgiver. The Republic was also a classic example of a largely unwritten constitution, like that of Britain, and so it has bearing on modern political theory.

Gerald Strauss offers a comprehensive study of a phenomenon of great interest to scholars of early modern Europe: the widespread opposition to Roman law and lawyers in sixteenth-century Germany.

Originally published in 1986.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Das Handbuch des Römischen Privatrechts gilt dem römischen Privat- und Zivilprozessrecht von den ältesten römischen Rechtsquellen bis zur Zeit Justinians. Erstmals seit fünfzig Jahren erfolgt eine umfassende Darstellung auf der Höhe des aktuellen Forschungsstandes. Das Werk bietet sachkundige Orientierung angesichts der Vielzahl der Forschungsgegenstände und der stetig reicher werdenden Sekundärliteratur. Es dient auch Althistorikern, Klassischen Philologen, anderen Geisteswissenschaftlern und Vertretern des geltenden Rechts als Nachschlagewerk und erhebt den Anspruch, ein Bezugspunkt der internationalen römisch-rechtlichen Forschung zu sein. Der Schwerpunkt der Darstellung liegt auf der Diskussion der spätrepublikanischen und kaiserzeitlichen römischen Jurisprudenz, wobei eine intensive Bezugnahme auf den Prozess erfolgt. Die juristische Papyrologie und Epigraphik sind ebenso berücksichtigt wie die provinziale Rechtspraxis. Das Handbuch erscheint in 2 Bänden und wird nur geschlossen abgegeben.

From the mid-1960s through the mid-1990s, Canada was in a state of ongoing political crisis. Within this thirty-year period, David R. Cameron was an active participant and observer of Canada's crisis of national unity. As a political scientist and former senior public servant, Cameron remains one of the most astute and respected analysts of Canadian federalism. This volume assembles some of Cameron's best works on federalism, nationalism, and the constitution, including journal articles, book chapters, speeches, newspaper op-eds, and unpublished opinion pieces spanning nearly fifty years of engagement. In addition, The Daily Plebiscite includes a conversation between Cameron and Robert C. Vipond on the "long decade" of the 1980s in Canadian constitutional politics, a brief history of the mega-constitutional era, and concluding reflections on the broader lessons that other divided societies might take from the Canadian experience. Providing rich fare for anyone interested in questions of federalism, nationalism, and constitutionalism, The Daily Plebiscite offers an informed, insider's perspective on the national unity question and considers the challenges faced by a federal, multinational, and multicultural country like Canada.

Picturing Punishment examines representations of criminal bodies as they moved in, through, and out of publicly accessible spaces in the city during punishment rituals in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic. Once put to death, the criminal cadaver did not come to rest. Its movement through public spaces indicated the potent afterlife of the deviant body, especially its ability to transform civic life. Focusing on material culture associated with key sites of punishment, Anuradha Gobin argues that the circulation of visual media related to criminal punishments was a particularly effective means of generating discourse and formulating public opinion, especially regarding the efficacy of civic authority. Certain types of objects related to criminal punishments served a key role in asserting republican ideals and demonstrating the ability of officials to maintain order and control. Conversely, the circulation of other types of images, such as inexpensive paintings and prints, had the potential to subvert official messages. As Gobin shows, visual culture thus facilitated a space in which potentially dissenting positions could be formulated while also bringing together seemingly disparate groups of people in a quest for new knowledge. Combining a diverse array of sources including architecture, paintings, prints, anatomical illustrations, and preserved body parts, Picturing Punishment demonstrates how the criminal corpse was reactivated, reanimated, and in many ways reintegrated into society.

This monograph makes a seminal contribution to existing literature on the importance of Roman law in the development of political thought in Europe. In particular it examines the expression 'dominus mundi', following it through the texts of the medieval jurists - the Glossators and Post-Glossators - up to the political thought of Hobbes. Understanding the concept of dominus mundi sheds light on how medieval jurists understood ownership of individual things; it is more complex than it might seem; and this book investigates these complexities. The book also offers important new insights into Thomas Hobbes, especially with regard to the end of dominus mundi and the replacement by Leviathan. Finally, the book has important relevance for contemporary political theory. With fading of political diversity Monateri argues "that the actual setting of globalisation represents the reappearance of the Ghost of the Dominus Mundi, a political refoule - repressed - a reappearance of its sublime nature, and a struggle to restore its universal legitimacy, and take its place." In making this argument, the book adds an important original vision to current debates in legal and political philosophy.

International law is a fundamentally modern phenomenon. Tracing its roots to nineteenth-century pronouncements on the 'law of nations,' the discipline took shape in the elaborate treaty structures of the post-First World War era and in the institutions and tribunals established after the Second World War. International law as scholars know and study it today is a product of modernism. In The Aesthetics of International Law, Ed Morgan engages in a literary parsing of international legal texts. In order to demonstrate how these types of legal narratives are imbued with modernist aesthetics, Morgan juxtaposes international legal documents and modern (as well as some immediately pre- and post-modern) literary texts. He demonstrates how the same intellectual currents that flow through the works of authors ranging from Edgar Allan Poe to James Joyce to Vladimir Nabokov are also present in legal doctrines ranging from the law of war to international commercial disputes to human rights. By providing a comparative, interdisciplinary account of this modern phenomenon, Morgan's work highlights the ways judges, lawyers, and state representatives artfully exploit the narratives of international law. It demonstrates that just as modernist literature developed complex narrative techniques as a way of dealing with the human condition, modern international law has developed parallel argumentative techniques as a way of dealing with international political conditions.

A study and revision guide for Scots law students of Roman law'Roman Law Essentials' provides a clear overview of the structure of Roman government and society. It first introduces the sources and development of Roman Law. Then, it examines the three keystones of Roman Law: The Law of Persons, The Law of Things and the Law of Actions. The final section appraises the reception of Roman Law into medieval Canon Law and the 'Ius Commune', from which many of the world's leading legal systems developed. The guide gives special attention to the evolution of Scots Law from Roman Law. Key FeaturesCase studies have been updated for the second editionCompares Roman law with other early legal systems to show why Roman law was special and how it was folded into other medieval legal structures in Europe and BritainSummary sections of Essential Facts and Essential Cases to help students remember the key elements of the subject

In 1803 in the colonial South American city of La Plata, Doña Martina Vilvado y Balverde presented herself to church and crown officials to denounce her husband of more than four years, Don Antonio Yta, as a “woman in disguise.� Forced to submit to a medical inspection that revealed a woman’s body, Don Antonio confessed to having been María Yta, but continued to assert his maleness and claimed to have a functional “member� that appeared, he said, when necessary. Passing to América is at once a historical biography and an in-depth examination of the sex/gender complex in an era before “gender� had been divorced from “sex.� The book presents readers with the original court docket, including Don Antonio’s extended confession, in which he tells his life story, and the equally extraordinary biographical sketch offered by Felipa Ybañez of her “son María,� both in English translation and the original Spanish. Thomas A. Abercrombie’s analysis not only grapples with how to understand the sex/gender system within the Spanish Atlantic empire at the turn of the nineteenth century but also explores what Antonio/María and contemporaries can teach us about the complexities of the relationship between sex and gender today. Passing to América brings to light a previously obscure case of gender transgression and puts Don Antonio’s life into its social and historical context in order to explore the meaning of “trans� identity in Spain and its American colonies. This accessible and intriguing study provides new insight into historical and contemporary gender construction that will interest students and scholars of gender studies and colonial Spanish literature and history. This book is freely available in an open access edition thanks to TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem)—a collaboration of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses and the Association of Research Libraries—and the generous support of New York University. Learn more at the TOME website: openmonographs.org.

In less than fifty-three years, Rome subjected most of the known world to its rule. Written by a team of specialist scholars, this book traces the rise of Rome from its origins as a cluster of villages to the foundation of the Empire and its consolidation in the first two centuries CE.