The constitution of the Roman Republic, or mos maiorum (“custom of the ancestors”), was an unwritten set of directives and principles transmitted mainly by precedents. The terms that have their origins in the Roman constitution live on in the constitutions to this day. Examples include separation of powers, separation of powers, vetoes, obstructions, quorum requirements, term limits, impeachments, scholarship powers, and regular elections. Even some less common modern constitutional concepts, such as block voting in the U.S. Electoral College, stem from ideas found in the Roman Constitution. The laws dealing with the Twelve Tables were a way of publicly showing the rights that every citizen had in the public and private spheres. These twelve tablets showed what was once considered in Roman society as unwritten laws. The public display of the copper tablets allowed for a more balanced society between the Roman patricians, who were educated and understood the laws of legal relations, and the Roman plebeians, who had little education or experience in understanding the law. By revealing to the public the unwritten rules of society, the Twelve Tablets offered the plebeians the opportunity to avoid financial exploitation and rebalance the Roman economy. The list of laws seems to have covered most areas of private law and focuses on relations between individuals (as opposed to individuals against the state or the rights of non-citizens) and is therefore more a list of civil actions and sanctions than a comprehensive and comprehensive code of laws. He also dealt extensively with areas relevant to an agrarian state. Thus, the crime of arson was punishable by death (poena capitis), in this case burning. The crime of using magic on grain was also punishable by death, this time with a form of crucifixion.
Less severe penalties for property damage were banishment from Rome, loss of citizenship and, as complicity in a crime, confiscation of property. Settlements could also be reached by paying compensation to the complainant and thus avoiding a court. The Twelve Tablets are no longer preserved: although they remained an important source during the Republic, they gradually became obsolete and ultimately had only historical interest. [2] The original tablets may have been destroyed when the Gauls burned Rome under Brennus in 387 BC. Cicero claimed[22] that he memorized them when he was a child at school, but that no one learned them anymore. What we have from them today are short excerpts and quotations from these laws in other authors, often in clearly updated language. They are written in archaic and laconic Latin (described as the verse of Saturn). Although it cannot be determined whether the quoted fragments accurately retain the original form, what is present gives insight into the grammar of early Latin. Some claim that the text was written as such so that plebeians could memorize the laws more easily, as literacy was not commonplace in early Rome. Roman republican scholars have written commentaries on the Twelve Tablets, such as L.
Aelius Stilo,[23] professor of Varron and Cicero. [24] This is the traditional view of events, although, perhaps more realistically, the composition of the paintings was an attempt by the elite to govern themselves better and prevent abuse within their own social group. In any case, the result was a list of written laws (legibus scribundis) presented on ten tables, and two more were added the following year to bring the total to twelve. Subsequently, laws became laws, that is, they were promulgated only after a decision of a legislative body and were no longer based on mere custom and tradition. The most detailed legal code of all civilizations was that of the Romans. This was first written in 450 BC. J.-C. by the magistrates and called the Twelve Tablets. All Roman citizens had to know the Twelve Tablets, which contained laws such as: The first Decemvirate completed the first ten codes in 450 BC. J.-C.
Here is how Livy describes their origin: The Justinian Codex and the institutes of Justinian were known in Western Europe and served with the earlier codex of Theodosius II. as a model for some of the Germanic legal systems; However, the digestible part was largely ignored for several centuries until a manuscript of the digests was rediscovered in Italy around 1070. This was done mainly through the work of glossaries, which wrote their comments between the lines (glossa interlinearis) or as marginal notes (glossa marginalis). From that point on, scholars began to study ancient Roman legal texts and teach others what they had learned from their studies. The center of these studies was Bologna. The Faculty of Law gradually developed to become the first university in Europe. This section of the tables makes it illegal for anyone to define what a citizen of Rome is, except for the largest assembly or maximus comitatus. It also prohibits the execution of persons who have not been convicted, the bribery of judges and the extradition of a citizen to hostile powers. [15] In the book The Twelve Tables, written by an anonymous source, whose origins have been collaborated through a series of translations of tablets and ancient references, P.R. Coleman-Norton arranged and translated many important features of the debt that put the Twelve Tablets into effect in the 5th century.
The translation of the legal characteristics relating to debt, which come from the known sources of the Twelve Tables, is given as such. Although not a fully codified system, the Twelve Tablets were a first step in protecting the rights of all citizens and redressing injustices through precisely formulated written laws known to all. Therefore, the Roman approach to the right later became the model, which many later civilizations have followed until today. The oldest written body of law we know of is the Code of Hammurabi. He was king of Babylon between 1792 and 1758 BC. Hammurabi is said to have received these laws from Shamash, the god of justice. The laws were carved on huge stone slabs and placed throughout the city for people to know. Judges have been appointed to ensure that they are respected. Around 450 BC.
AD, the first decemviri (decemvirate, head of the “Ten Men”) are responsible for creating the first ten tablets. According to Livy, they sent an embassy to Greece to study the legislative system of Athens, known as the Solonian Constitution, but also to inquire about the legislation of other Greek cities. [7] [8] Some scholars deny that the Romans imitated the Greeks in this regard[9] or suspect that they only visited Greek cities in southern Italy and did not travel as far as Greece. [10] In 450 BC. AD, the second decemviri began work on the last two tables. The exact reason why the paintings were created may have been lost in the mists of time, but once they were written, their contents were systematically referenced in later Roman written works. Unfortunately, the tablets themselves did not survive and, according to tradition, were destroyed during the founding of Rome in 390 BC. It was plundered by the Gauls. From a few remaining fragments and these references in the literature, it is possible to identify at least some peculiarities. The Twelve Tablets (also known as the Law of the Twelve Tablets) were a series of laws inscribed on 12 bronze tablets written in 451 and 450 BC. Created in ancient Rome.
They marked the beginning of a new approach to the laws that were now passed and written by the government so that all citizens before them could be treated equally. The fourth table of the Twelve Tablets deals with the specific rights of the patriarchs of the family. One of the first proclamations in Table IV is that “terribly deformed” children must be euthanized promptly. He also explains that sons are born in the inheritance of their family. Babies with physical and mental illnesses must be killed by the father himself. If a husband no longer wants to be married to his wife, he can remove her from his household and “order her to mind her own affairs.” [15] Not all the codes in Table IV benefit only the Patriarch.