Essay on Ancient Roman Laws

Roman law in the republic was often based on custom (Paul-Louis). During the Roman Empire, however, the emperor became the final source of law. Roman law was one of the original products of the Roman mind. They created the Twelve Tables, which was the first Roman code of law developed during the early republic. Roman civil law allowed great flexibility in adopting new ideas or extending principles in the complex environment of the empire. This was to establish laws that allowed greater fairness. Early Roman law

Throughout the world, laws brought a sense of purpose and order into empires through many centuries. Two groups of laws that brought major purpose to empires were Justinian’s Code and Hammurabi’s Code. Although they may differ in different aspects of life they are connected in political, economic, and social forms in the ancient world.

     The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.

The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in the central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history, and then collapsed. According to Roman legend. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. In the A.D. 100’s, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the northern coast of Africa. The empire then began to crumble, party because it was too big for Rome to govern.

The Roman's executive branch, had two consuls and they were elected by the assembly for one year to be the chief executives of the government and the commanders-in-chief of the army. In the judicial branch, the Praetors and the eight judges are chosen for one year by the Centuriate Assembly. Both the Praetor and the eight judges oversee the civil and criminal courts. To become a citizens you have to be an adult male landowner. The citizens had the right to vote, to make legal contracts, to have a lawful marriage, and to have a trial. A common citizen would vote to elect tribunes and to make laws. The Romans had the Twelve Tablets which, were a list of rules that was the basis of the Roman legal system. The laws in the Twelve Tablets talked about property, crime, family, theft, and inheritance.

Greece influenced roman societies and modern day societies politically as explained in documents 1, 2, 4, and 6. Greece was the first ancient civilization to have a democracy. The basic rule for roman society law system was displayed in the twelve tables. (Doc 2) Many western civilizations adapted this law system as well as other ideas from the roman 12 tables which influenced western societies immensely. The document explains a quote that we still use in modern society which is “every man is innocent until proven guilty.” Octavian Augustus states that after he dies “the foundations which I have laid for its future government will stand firm and stable” the Greeks invented an idea of a ruling senate which today is known as democracy. (Doc 4)

Rome is a beautiful place, with lots of history. Rome and the U.S. weare different in law, religion,and activities.They are similar to each other, but they’re nothing alike at the same time.

In 450 B.C., the first Roman law code was inscribed on 12 bronze tablets–known as the Twelve Tables–and publicly displayed in the Roman Forum. These laws included issues of legal procedure, civil rights and property rights and provided the basis for all future Roman civil law. (Staff)

The Laws of the Kings is a collection of laws set in place by the 7 Etruscan Kings that ruled Rome preceding the Roman Republic. The Etruscans had a great influence over early Roman culture during their reign from 753-510 B.C. Starting with the first Etruscan King, Romulus and ending with Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the laws these kings put in place controlled their subjects lower in the social hierarchy in Rome and distinguished the elites of Rome from the common citizen. The contents of these laws illustrate how the social hierarchy of Rome was created as well as maintained by the royal lineage. Ultimately, the Laws of the Kings shows what was important to the Romans at the time of the Etruscans and how they carried over to the subsequent

In its heyday Ancient Rome was many great thingsm it was the military Powerhouse of the world, it had uncomparable economic power and and at peakm the empire of Rome had over 5 million square kilometres in it 's Territory. The state even had the population of Rome held within their control, as you can imagine this wasn’t done through trnsperency and good morales, but instead through various scare tactics and manipulation, this paper will focus on one aspect of the states control over the Roman citizens, that aspect is control through Religion. To the state in Ancient Rome religion was a tool for social control, they saw that if they could control such an important part of a citizens life as their Religion and beleifs that then that citizen would effectivly behaive in the way the state wished. This paper will first discuss those behind this, the senate, the consuls and the emperor [maybe need to change], will then talk about the control being previlent even with those near the top of the social ladder using the example of the Vesta virgins. After this the Calender and festivals used by the state to have a strong hold of control throughtout someones life will be the topic and finally two state promoted rittuals will be talked and analized.

"Rome fell but its legacy lived on." This quote, in short terms, means that even though Rome fell apart, some of the most important things that were created throughout the grand Roman Empire lived on and have inspired our modern day art, buildings, languages, and laws. Rome descended into downfall, but it's legacies still live on today. Speaking of, there are four main Roman legacies: art, architecture and engineering, language and writing, and philosophy. But Roman language and writing have had the most monumental impact on today's society. Many modern day languages have developed from Latin, like Spanish or French. There are also Latin proverbs that represent universities and businesses worldwide. Not to mention, the Roman numerals that can be found almost anywhere. It's hard to deny that Roman language and writing is the most important

The Roman way of life is different and similar to modern day. Though one may not know much over the Roman’s the culture is fascinating and still remembered in history. The clothes, food, customs, and leisure are major in Roman lifestyle.

It may also have included laws laid down by especially wise kings of previous dynasties (Diodorus cited in Erman 141). Regardless of its origin, it is certain that there must have been an established system of rules of conduct beyond the whims of the king.

Justice has been misperceived to go hand and hand with rules in which a society must conform to, mostly in due part to the enlightenment era. In the case with the Romans, the laws they established, especially early on, dealing with the spread of Christianity has been interpreted with a sense of disgust for the unfair treatment targeted towards Christians, and later on to those of other faiths. However, I argue that, Roman law, when concerning religion, was used to strengthen the identity of what it meant to be Roman. Furthermore, as Rome, the political institution, was beginning to decay, as an act of acclamation, the formulation of Roman Laws allowed Christianity to be a main means of connection to what it meant to identify as Roman. Utilizing various primary sources, it is evident that faith had been gradually accepted as the dominant form of unity and law, beginning with Emperor Diocletian to Emperor Theodosia, even among emperors, the Catholic faith had shown that all men were under God, and under God they were all Roman.

Ancient Rome, the period between the 8th and 1st centuries B.C. in which Rome grew from a little colony to an emerging empire. "Roman imperialism introduced extremes of wealth and poverty that honed social and economic conflict within the Roman state ." The enormous army and their countless loots, as well as their captured slaves, produced many changes along the countryside such as small farms becoming large plantations, and peasants left without lands decided to journey to Rome and other cities. "Immense wealth inflamed the ambitions of Roman nobles who struggled for personal domination rather than collective rule ." This dominant emergence of power and rule thus led to the conquering and control of other societies. The