PREFACE THE purpose of this book is to introduce the student to some of the more interesting and instructive principles of Roman law by selected passages from the original Latin sources. It is intended to offer to students of Latin a selection of texts gathered from a field well worthy of study by those who would broaden their view of Roman life and institutions, as well as by those who would extend their acquaintance with the Latin language beyond the Latinity of the authors usually read in a college course. It is scarcely necessary to repeat what is acknowledged on all sides—that Rome's legal and political institutions are the imperishable monument to the real genius and civilization of her people, and that they constitute her most important contribution to the modern world. Furthermore, along with the more recent tendency to broaden the scope of philological studies, it is beginning to be more fully recognized that the language of the Roman legal writers is worthy of greater attention than it has hitherto received. The Roman jurists were as a rule exponents of a concise, clear, and elegant style. At a time when Latin literature had lost its art, and artificiality of thought and diction was substituted for the better tradition, the jurists were still writing with a simplicity and elegance worthy of the importance and dignity of their subject-matter and in keeping with their distinguished position in public life. The concrete case arising in the everyday, practical affairs of men formed the basis of their abstractions, and their writings, being the record of experience drawn from the life of their own day, contribute to a more complete understanding of the Roman people. The best texts have been followed, and only an occasional verbal change has been allowed when required to render the text more intelligible. No attempt has been made toward uniformity of spelling of words drawn from so many sources. One linguistic difficulty in legal texts cannot be avoided. From the manner in which they have been preserved and transmitted, it can never be positively determined that we have the exact words of the author excerpted or the linguistic peculiarities of his period. The excerpts (fragmenta or leges) presented in Justinian's Digest suffered revision at the hands of the jurists compiling that work. The extent to which the idiom and vocabulary of authors already several centuries dead were thereby affected, cannot now be determined. The classical student should perhaps be reminded that there are no sources giving anything like a general survey of the law as it was in the best days of Rome. No attempt has been made, therefore, in these selections to present the law of any one period, but the historical development of some institutions has been briefly traced in the notes. Extracts from the legal literature have been freely quoted in the notes, both to explain the text and to encourage the student to acquaint himself still further with the original sources. The technical terms of Roman law commonly occurring in Latin literature and works on Roman history, and many of the concise and pithy maxims characteristic of the Roman legal system, have been put before the learner with considerable frequency by inten tional repetition and by cross reference. Chief attention has been given to the subject-matter, but an occasional linguistic or grammatical difficulty has been explained or reference has been given to the school grammars in general use, indicated by the usual initials. In addition to acknowledgments made in the notes, the author's indebtedness to many of the more important works on Roman law is publicly acknowledged by appending at the end of the volume a list of works cited and most frequently consulted. Grateful acknowledgment is due Professor Eduard Hölder and Professor August von Bechmann, of the universities of Leipzig and Munich respectively, for material drawn from notes taken in their most instructive and learned lectures. My friend and former colleague, Professor J. W. D. Ingersoll, of Yale University, very courteously read the manuscript and offered valued criticism. I am most deeply indebted to my friend and former colleague, Professor E. P. Morris, for his constant encouragement from the very inception of the idea of publishing some legal selections, and for his careful criticism and help at every stage of the work. The fact that the author knows no book of similar purpose, and has had to determine and pursue his own course without guide or forerunner, has not only increased his difficulties, but has made it impossible for him to avoid many imperfections. THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL, JAMES J. ROBINSON. |