History of Roman Law

HISTORY OF ROMAN LAW fact box information

1-In 509 BC, the Roman citizens created The Roman Republic and they started to choose leaders who made laws and decided for them.

2-Only adult free Roman men were citizens; women, children and slaves were not.

3-The concept of veto originated with the Romans. Veto means: "I forbid it" in Latin. Veto is the power to stop a law.

4-The first legal text is the Law of the Twelve Tables.

5-The Law of the Twelve Tables dates from 439 BC.

6-The Law of the Twelve Tables were drawn up on twelve tablets.

7-The Law of the Twelve Tables were posted in the Roman forum for everybody to read.

8-Each law applied to every Roman citizen, rich or poor, which was a huge change.

9-The development of Roman law took more than a thousand years of jurisprudence.

10-The final Roman Law, the Justinian Code, served as a basis for legal practice in Europe.

1. Introduction/ The history of Roman Law

After a 16-year battle with their last king, Tarquin the Proud, the people of Rome promised never to be ruled by a king again. They wanted to be ruled by elected leaders. They wanted to vote on any laws recommended. They wanted to vote on who rule over them each year. In 509 BCE, over 2500 years ago, the citizens of Rome created a new government. The called it The Roman Republic.

Many things changed and improved a lot, although women, children, and slaves were still not citizens of Rome. They had no say in government. Only adult free Roman men were citizens who could vote. But, things did improve under the Republic. About 50 years after the Roman Republic was formed, the rulers/leaders of the Republic wrote down many of the old laws, to make sure everyone understood them. History points out to this group of laws as "The Twelve Tables" because the written laws were organized into 12 sections. These laws talked about property, crime, family, theft, marriage and inheritance. It doesn't really matter what they said,...