Synopses & Reviews
Roman law as a field of study is rapidly evolving to reflect new perspectives and approaches in research. Scholars who work on the subject are increasingly being asked to conduct research in an interdisciplinary manner whereby Roman law is not merely seen as a set of abstract concepts devoid of any background, but as a body of law which operated in a specific social, economic and cultural context. This context-based, 'law and society' approach to the study of Roman law is an exciting new field which legal historians must address.
This interdisciplinary collection focuses on three larger themes which have emerged from these studies: Roman legal thought the interaction between legal theory and legal practice and the relationship between law and economics.
Synopsis
An interdisciplinary, edited collection on social science methodologies for approaching Roman legal sources. Roman law as a field of study is rapidly evolving to reflect new perspectives and approaches in research. Scholars who work on the subject are increasingly being asked to conduct research in an interdisciplinary manner whereby Roman law is not merely seen as a set of abstract concepts devoid of any background, but as a body of law which operated in a specific social, economic and cultural context.
Synopsis
Since the mid-1960s, a new academic movement has advocated a context-based, law and society approach to the study of Roman law instead of the prevailing dogmatic methodology. Scholars who work on the subject are increasingly being asked to see Roman law as a body of law which operated in a specific social, economic and cultural context. This interdisciplinary collection focuses on three larger themes which have emerged from these studies: Roman legal thought, the interaction between legal theory and legal practice and the relationship between law and economics.
About the Author
Paul J. du Plessis is Senior Lecturer in Civil Law and Legal History at the University of Edinburgh. He is a legal historian whose research interests include Roman law, medieval interpretations of Roman law, Roman-Dutch law, the historical development of the civilian tradition in mixed jurisdictions, the relationship between law and history as well as between law and society in a historical context. Secondary research interests include the development of European Private Law, Comparative Law and International Private Law.
He is a member of various organisations dedicated to the study of legal history, sometime webmaster of the Centre for Legal History at Edinburgh University and convener of the Edinburgh Roman Law Group.
Table of Contents
List of Contributors List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
Paul J. du Plessis
Part I: Perspectives on Roman Legal Thought
2. Why Read the Jurists? Aulus Gellius on Reading Across Disciplines
Joseph A. Howley
3. Artes Urbanae: Roman Law and Rhetoric
Olga Tellegen-Couperus and Jan Willem Tellegen
4. The Senatus Consultum Silanianum: Court Decisions and Judicial Severity in the Early Roman Empire
Jill Harries
Part II: Interactions between Legal Theory and Legal Practice
5. Law's Empire: Roman Universalism and Legal Practice
Caroline Humfress
6. The Concept of Conubium in the Roman Republic
Saskia T. Roselaar
7. Financial Transactions by Women in Puteoli
Éva Jakab
8. Tapia's Banquet Hall and Eulogios' Cell: Transfer of Ownership as a Security in Some Late Byzantine Papyri
Jakub Urbanik
Part III: Economic Realities and Law
9. Law, Agency and Growth in the Roman Economy
Dennis P. Kehoe
10. Dumtaxat de peculio: What's in a Peculium, or Establishing the Extent of the Principal's Liability
Jean-Jacques Aubert
11. Pipes and Property in the Sale of Real Estate (D.19.1.38.2)
Cynthia J. Bannon
Part IV Concluding Thoughts
12. The Standpoint Determines the View: Jacques Barzun's Theory of Aspect
Philip Thomas
Index