The Roman Law
Roman Law is indisputably one of the most important Roman legacies. According to Wikipedia, Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD when the Roman-Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. This means more than a thousand years of jurisprudence from the Twelve Tables Law (c. 439 BC) to the Justinian Code (529 AD). Roman law was used in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (331-1453), and also served as a basis for legal practice in Europe and its former colonies.
A few of the Roman law principles still in use today are
- the right of personal property
- the validity of contracts
- the right to vote
- the legality of wills
- the right of appeal
- the right for an accused person to be defended and to be innocent until proven guilty
- the right to get married and to divorce
Think about it
The legal development of the Romans reached the smallest issues of the every day life. For example, what happened if the acorns of your land fell on to the neighbour's? Who had the right to pick them up? The Interdictum de glande legenda gave a crystal clear response. What do you think the answer is?
