Introduction to Roman Law

Author: [British] Nicholas
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: This book is a comparative study of Roman law, incorporating comparisons between Roman law and English law, as well as between classical Roman law and modern civil law systems, in the discussion of each topic. It contains rich information and insightful perspectives. This comparative approach not only greatly broadens horizons and opens up thinking but also helps deepen the understanding of specific Roman legal institutions. The book does not simply arrange Roman legal norms according to the classification system of modern civil codes but instead takes the order of discussion in Gaius's Institutiones as the structural blueprint. Gaius categorized the objects of law into three main categories: persons, things, and actions. To emphasize substantive law, this book adjusts Gaius's "trichotomy," integrating procedural law into the discussion of each substantive legal institution and treating the three major rights of things law as three independent categories alongside person law, thus forming its basic structure of discussion: person law (including marriage, family, guardianship, and tutelage), property law (i.e., things law), debt law (which also includes debt for private wrongs, i.e., tort law), and inheritance law. This is a classic Roman legal system. Other features of the book include: concise and fluent narration; analysis closely tied to the specific historical context to help understand the historical, social, and economic causes or background of legal institutions; the use of Latin for major terms to assist in mastering basic Roman legal terminology, and so on.