Changes may occur.
Any updates will be made to this Syllabus.
Readings other than the textbooks are available on Moodle.
January
Week 1
21 Review of syllabus: readings, discussions, evaluation. World legal systems and the spread of Roman/Civil laws' influence
- M. Beard, "Why Ancient Rome Matters to the Modern World"; "What the Romans Knew"; Di Pietro, "The Roman Legacy of Law"
23 TH Overview of Roman historical periods: Regnum, Republic, Principate, Dominate. Overview of legal systems: Roman (Civil),
Common Law, Shar'ia.
- Hugh E. Willis, "Some Fundamental Legal Concepts"
Week 2
28 T Quiz: Articles and Class Notes
- Riccobono, "Outlines of the Evolution of Roman Law"; Cicero, "On the Laws", Book 1
30 TH Discussion of Riccobono. Discussion of Cicero, "De Legibus", Roman Political Structures and Institutions
- RD, Chapter 2, "Constitutional Background of Roman Law"
February
Week 3
4 T Structures of the Roman Republican government and society (con't)
- Class notes
6 TH Twelve Tables
- RD Sources of Roman Law
Week 4
11 T The Twelve Tables; Ius, Lex, Statutes and Procedures of Roman Law
- Class Notes
13 TH Ius Civilis, Ius Gentium; Civil Litigation
- Case study no 2: "Killing a Sister"
Week 5
18 T Historical Overview of Rome, Periodization of Law, The College of the Pontifices
- The Twelve Tables: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/twelve tables.asp
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 78, 9
20 TH The Law of Persons and Family: Persona, Paterfamilias, Potestas
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, begin reading Ch. 2
- Gaius, Institutes, I, I, 18-23; 27; 38
Week 6
25 T Week 6 The Law of Persons and Family: Slaves, Familia, Mater
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, continue reading Ch. 2
- Gaius, Institutes, I, I, 42, 43, 44
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, II, 26
27 TH The Law of Persons and Family: Children, Manus, Marriage, The Lex Iulia et Papia Poppaea
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, finish reading Ch. 2
- Gaius, Institutes, I, I, 108-115b; 119-120; 132; I,VII, 56-57a, 112-113
- Justinian, Digest, 23, II, 1, 2, 4
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, 56
Week 7
March
3 T The Law of Things: Property, Usucapio, Res Mancipi-Nec Mancipi
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, Ch. 3: pp. 55-71
- Gaius, Institutes,I, 119-120; II, 1-25
5 TH no-class
9-13 March: Spring Break
Week 8
17 T Reflections on the Spirit of Roman Law and Western Civilization
- Wieacker, “The Importance of Roman Law for Western Civilization and Western Legal Thought”
- Lecture by Prof. Okko Behrends, University of Göttingen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_k7lFYd4PE
19 TH The Law of Things: Obligations
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, Ch. 3: pp. 72-85
- Anderson, “The Law of Things: Contracts”
- Gaius, Institutes, II, 13, 14; III, 88-110; 135-142
Week 9
24 T The Law of Things: Delicts (Roman Law of Torts), Theft, and The Lex Aquilia
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, start reading Ch. 3
- Justinian, The Digest of Roman Law, pp. 64-68; pp. 71-124
26 TH Delicts: Robbery and Insult
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, finish reading Ch. 3
- Justinian, The Digest of Roman Law, pp. 151-186
Week 10
31 T The Law of Actions
- Du Plessis, Studying Roman Law, Ch. 4: pp. 109-118
- Justinian, The Digest of Roman Law, pp. 60-63
April
2 TH “The Romans Think Juridically (and the Indians Mystically)”: The Roman Juridical Mindset
- Jan Hendrik Valgaeren, “The Jurisdiction of the Pontiffs at the End of the Fourth Century BC”,
in Olga Tellegen-Couperus, Law and Religion in the Roman Republic
Week 11
7 T The Non-Contagious Touch: Manumissio, Vindicatio, and Mancipium
- David Daube, “ Two Early Patterns of Manumission”, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 36, Parts 1 and 2 (1946), pp. 57-75
9 TH Juridical and Religious Theory: The Fetial and The Juridical Rites
- Linda Zollschan, “The Longevity of the Fetial College”, in Olga Tellegen-Couperus, Law and Religion in the Roman Republic
- Federico Santangelo, “The Fetials and Their Ius”, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, Vol. 51 (2008), pp. 63-93
Week 12
14 T The Earliest Penalty of Roman Criminal Law: The Homo Sacer
- Leon ter Beek, “Divine Law and the Penalty of Sacer Esto in Early Rome”, in Olga Tellegen-Couperus, Law and Religion in the Roman Republic
- Harold Bennett, “Sacer Esto”, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 61 (1930), pp. 5-18
16 TH From Fanum to Civitas or from Religious to Juridical Order
- Michel Humm, “The Curiate Law and the Religious Nature of the Power of Roman Magistrates”, in Olga Tellegen-Couperus, Law and Religion in the Roman Republic
- Polybius on the Constitution of the Roman Republic: http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/DeptTransls/Polybius.html
Week 13
21 T Roman Law and Christian Persecutions
- A. N. Sherwin-White, “The Early Persecutions and Roman Law Again”, The Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2 (October 1952), pp. 199-213
- J. E. A. Crake, “Early Christians and Roman Law”, Phoenix, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring, 1965), pp. 61-70
- Pliny the Younger and Emperor Trajan on trials against the Christians: http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html
- Diocletian’s Edicts against the Christians: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/persec1.asp
23 TH Roman Law and The Church After Constantine
- T. D. Barnes, “Constantine's Prohibition of Pagan Sacrifice”, The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 105, No. 1 (Spring, 1984), pp. 69-72
- Edict of Galerius, Edict of Milan: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/edict-milan.asp
Week 14
28 T Roman-Barbarian Developments: The Vulgarization of Roman Law
- Katherine Fischer Drew, “Roman Law and Germanic Law”, in The Laws of the Salian Franks
- Ralph W. Mathisen, “Peregrini, Barbari, and Cives Romani: Concepts of Citizenship and the Legal Identity of Barbarians in the Later Roman
Empire”, The American Historical Review, Vol. 111, No. 4 (October 2006), pp. 1011-1040
30 TH Final Discussion
Final Exam