Roman Law: An Introduction

Roman Law: An Introduction offers a clear and accessible introduction to Roman law for students of any legal tradition. In the thousand years between the Law of the Twelve Tables and Justinian’s massive Codification, the Romans developed the most sophisticated and comprehensive secular legal system of Antiquity, which remains at the heart of the civil law tradition of Europe, Latin America, and some countries of Asia and Africa. Roman lawyers created new legal concepts, ideas, rules, and mechanisms that most Western legal systems still apply. The study of Roman law thus facilitates understanding among people of different cultures by inspiring a kind of legal common sense and breadth of knowledge.

Based on over twenty-five years’ experience teaching Roman law, this volume offers a comprehensive examination of the subject, as well as a historical introduction which contextualizes the Roman legal system for students who have no familiarity with Latin or knowledge of Roman history. More than a compilation of legal facts, the book captures the defining characteristics and principal achievements of Roman legal culture through a millennium of development.

Rafael Domingo (1963, PhD 1987) is the Spruill Family Research Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, and ICS Professor of Law at the University of Navarra, Spain. A specialist in legal history, legal theory, ancient Roman law, and comparative law, he has authored and edited more than twenty books, including Auctoritas (1999), Juristas Universales (2004), The New Global Law (2010), God and the Secular Legal System (2016), and Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History (2018).