The Rule of Law in Ancient Rome

The ideal of the rule of law - that the law should protect all citizens from arbitrary exercises of power - can be traced from ancient Greece to the present day. The Roman contribution to the rule of law tradition has been largely overlooked, however, both in rule-of-law scholarship and recent considerations of Roman law. This volume - the first of its kind - brings together the study of the rule of law and the study of ancient Rome. Its chapters apply insights and approaches drawn from modern legal theory in order to understand the ways in which Romans thought about law and the place of law in their community, the ways in which Roman institutions and political norms protected citizens against the arbitrary exercise of power, and how these ideas and practices changed with Rome's transition from republic to empire. Together, the contributors turn a new spotlight on the community of the Romans by asking whether and to what extent Rome may be said to have invested in the idea and practice of 'the rule of law', and how the rule of law intersected with other values including justice, popular sovereignty, and the personal authority of the emperor. At the same time, the volume seeks to enrich current thinking on the rule of law by providing an evidence-rich case-study of ancient Rome during the republic and empire. Recent years have witnessed increasing attacks on the rule of law, including attacks arising within liberal democracies and their institutions. It is a crucial time to be thinking about the rule of law. Deepening our historical understanding through close study of the rule of law in Rome is both timely and necessary.

Eleanor Cowan, Lecturer in Ancient History, Discipline of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney,Kit Morrell, Susan Blake Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, University of Queensland,Andrew Pettinger, Honorary Associate in Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney,Michael Sevel, Senior Lecturer in Jurisprudence, University of Sydney Law School

Eleanor Cowan is a lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Sydney. She is an historian of the Roman Republic and the Early Imperial period. Her research concentrates on communities in - and post- conflict; on constructions of autocracy; on domestic abuse in the ancient world and on Latin historiography.


Kit Morrell is the Susan Blake Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the political and legal history of the late Roman republic.


Andrew Pettinger is an honorary associate in Ancient History at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on the emergence of the Tiberian age, constitutional change under Augustus, and the role of politics in periods of transition.


Michael Sevel is Senior Lecturer in Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney Law School. He researches issues in general jurisprudence, the rule of law, and moral and political philosophy, including the nature of political authority and the moral obligation to obey the law.