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The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law

The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law

The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law

April 2015
Available
Paperback
9780521719940

    This book reflects the wide range of current scholarship on Roman law. The essays, newly commissioned for this volume, cover the sources of evidence for classical Roman law, the elements of private law, as well as criminal and public law, and the second life of Roman law in Byzantium, in civil and canon law, and in political discourse from AD 1100 to the present. Roman law nowadays is studied in many different ways, which is reflected in the diversity of approaches in the essays. Some focus on how the law evolved in ancient Rome, others on its place in the daily life of the Roman citizen, still others on how Roman legal concepts and doctrines have been deployed through the ages. All of them are responses to one and the same thing: the sheer intellectual vitality of Roman law, which has secured its place as a central element in the intellectual tradition and history of the West.

    • There is no other collection that covers both classical Roman law and the contribution Roman law made to the development of modern legal systems, the law of the church, and political thought
    • Includes topics often neglected, such as public law and Byzantine law, as well as under-explored areas, such as patristic material as a source of information about Roman law
    • Conveys, in a way that no other book does, the rich contribution that Roman law has made in so many areas, and is therefore of interest to academics in a wide range of disciplines: classics, ancient history, later European history, canon law, political thought and comparative law

    Reviews & endorsements

    'A sophisticated and informative journey through a fascinating intellectual landscape: Roman law, private and public, in its ancient context and beyond, beautifully explained to lawyers and historians.' Dario Mantovani, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy

    'The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law is an indispensable survey of the enormous field of Roman law, focusing not just on the substance of the law, but also on the process of its creation, its enforcement in the Roman world, and its subsequent influence on later legal systems.' Dennis Kehoe, Tulane University, Louisiana

    'This book is a good companion for a long journey, from the formation of Roman law through its reconstruction in the Middle Ages to its continuing influence in the modern world. The authors present Roman law authoritatively and from a range of perspectives, examining its doctrines, its development, and its intellectual and economic roots.' James Gordley, Tulane University, Louisiana

    'It is rare to read a book on Roman law which is difficult to put down, but this is such a book … [It] has much to offer both the general reader and the professional lawyer or classicist.' Classics for All Reviews (classicsforallreviews.wordpress.com)

    See more reviews

    Product details

    April 2015
    Paperback
    9780521719940
    554 pages
    226 × 152 × 30 mm
    0.75kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Part I. Introduction:
    • 1. Introduction David Johnston
    • 2. Roman law and its intellectual context Laurens Winkel
    • Part II. Lawmaking:
    • 3. Sources of law from the Republic to the Dominate David Ibbetson
    • 4. Roman law in the provinces John Richardson
    • Part III. Roman Law: The Evidence:
    • 5. Documents in Roman practice Joseph Georg Wolf
    • 6. Writing in Roman legal contexts Elizabeth A. Meyer
    • 7. Patristic sources Caroline Humfress
    • 8. Justinian and the Corpus Iuris Civilis Wolfgang Kaiser
    • Part IV. Private Law in Roman Society:
    • 9. Slavery, family, and status Andrew Lewis
    • 10. Property Paul du Plessis
    • 11. Succession David Johnston
    • 12. Commerce Jean-Jacques Aubert
    • 13. Delicts A. J. B. Sirks
    • 14. Litigation Ernest Metzger
    • Part V. Criminal and Public Law:
    • 15. Crime and punishment Andrew Lintott
    • 16. Public law A. J. B. Sirks
    • Part VI. Byzantium and Beyond:
    • 17. The law of New Rome: Byzantine law B. H. Stolte
    • 18. The legacy of Roman law Laurent Mayali
    • 19. Canon law and Roman law R. H. Helmholz
    • 20. Political thought Magnus Ryan
    • 21. Roman law in the modern world Reinhard Zimmermann.
      Contributors
    • David Johnston, Laurens Winkel, David Ibbetson, John Richardson, Joseph Georg Wolf, Elizabeth A. Meyer, Caroline Humfress, Wolfgang Kaiser, Andrew Lewis, Paul du Plessis, Jean-Jacques Aubert, A. J. B. Sirks, Ernest Metzger, Andrew Lintott, B. H. Stolte, Laurent Mayali, R. H. Helmholz, Magnus Ryan, Reinhard Zimmermann

    • Editor
    • David Johnston

      David Johnston is a Queen's Counsel who practises at the Bar in Scotland, mainly in the fields of public and commercial law. He holds MA, PhD and LD degrees from the University of Cambridge. From 1993 to 1999 he was Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ's College. He is currently an honorary professor at Edinburgh Law School. David Johnston is the author of many publications, including The Roman Law of Trusts (1988), Roman Law in Context (1999) and Prescription and Limitation, 2nd edition (2012).