Reviews for The Spirit of Roman Law

The average rating for The Spirit of Roman Law based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-12-24 00:00:00 Perry Swinehart III Roman law is one of the most successful legal systems of any society anywhere ever. This book tries to get at how the Romans understood their law, what forces drove its evolution, and how it related to their broader society. The big point is that the Roman law we know -- the law of the Twelve Tablets and the Jurists -- is exclusively private law. Nothing about how the government works, nothing about religion. And Watson points out that this is not an accident. The story of the Twelve Tablets is that the plebs said "we'd like a legal system to tell us about the powers of the senate." And the senate said "ah, you mean you want a code of private law to regulate plebby things like marriages and contracts. Can do!" The law therefore rigorously excludes taxes, religion, the constitution, etc -- things not for plebs. And the theoretical divide between "public law" and "private law" to this day tracks that distinction. France has "judicial" courts, and it has a separate hierarchy of "administrative" courts, and this is an echo of a Roman division. In contrast, the common law was originally developed in a feudal society and was a law for great barons and small freeholders alike -- and therefore the public/private distinction doesn't mean much to us and doesn't work so well in understanding our legal system. Watson doesn't use this analogy, but the Roman law is more like the Talmud than like the common law. The jurists who wrote the books were showing off their clarity of thought and rigor, and the social game being played is "I think more clearly than you", not "I win more cases than you." Ulpian is more like the talmudic sages than he is like an English lawyer. This explains why the Roman jurists are totally un-interested in history, rarely mention social purposes behind legislation, and rarely discuss procedural details. The book only partly delivers on its premise. It has a great deal of interesting material and I do recommend it, but it doesn't quite answer "why did this succeed?" Watson notes that there's an amazing degree of continuity from 500 BCE through the Republic, the empire, and up to the Corpus Juris of Justinian, despite very considerable shifts in society and the real economy. Empire, atheism, christianity, barbarians, none of this occasions radical reform. Watson note this, but does not explain it. The author is highly opinionated and many of his opinions, I gather, are heterodox. So it's not a consensus portrait of Roman law. But if you want a basic synoptic overview of "what is it, how'd it work, why did it matter", you could do a lot worse.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-01 00:00:00 Danny Thrasher A masterpiece of rights. Examines the nation, state and individual as a society member. Effects of 7 Years War benefited this work. Secular religious ideas and just theories about international relations.