Law, Society, and Economics in the Roman Empire

Catalog description

Rome may have conquered with its armies but it ruled its empire with its lawyers. Indeed, one of the Roman empire's most enduring achievements and important legacies was its sophisticated legal culture. Rediscovered in the 11th century, Roman law eventually came to form the basis of modern legal codes written for the new nation states of Europe during the 19th century. But this was but the second conquest of Roman law: at its height the Roman Empire spread out over some 2.5 million square miles, organizing more than 70 million people into a single state, all without modern telecommunications, mechanized transportation, firearms, mass media, or professional police forces. While we will explore the history and afterlife of Roman law, the core subject of this class will be Roman law itself, which we will study through direct engagement with Roman legal texts on contracts, delicts (i.e., torts), or family law, following the case method of modern American law schools. There will be supplemental units on Roman theories or philosophy of law; the sociology and anthropology of Roman legal education, procedures, practices, professionals, and spaces; and the relationship between Roman law and empire. We will also study modern approaches to law, law and society, and law and economics for comparative purposes.