This chapter discusses the Roman law of obligations. The ‘obligation’, as a seminal part of Roman (and indeed modern) private law, is a legal tie created between individuals on account of voluntary interactions (such as contracts) or involuntary interactions (such as delicts). It begins with a general discussion of the nature and classification of obligations. This is an important aspect of the discussion as it links this particular branch of private law to other areas of Roman private law. It then covers the general features of Roman contracts; consensual contracts; verbal contracts; contracts re; contracts litteris; innominate contracts; pacts; and the quasi-contract. The next chapter is devoted to the other source of obligations, namely delicts and quasi-delicts. These two sources of obligations, namely contract and delict, form the substance of the law of obligations.
Chapter
9. Obligations: Common Principles and Obligations Arising from Contracts
Chapter
6. Interests in Property
This chapter deals primarily with the various interests that could be acquired in property, particularly ownership, rights to servitudes, and possession. The Roman law of property is one of the lasting and important legacies of their legal order and has had a profound impact upon modern legal systems across the world. This chapter begins by considering the Roman classification of property. This was the intellectual starting point in the teaching manuals preserved from the classical period of Roman law. The purpose of this exercise in classification was to demonstrate that certain objects fell outside the sphere of private ownership. Apart from issues of classification, this chapter deals primarily with the various interests that could be acquired in property, particularly ownership, limited real rights over the property of others, such as rights to servitudes, and possession. It deals with the legal rules governing these institutions and their interrelationships. In theory, the interests in property may be divided into two broad categories, namely legal interests (ownership and limited real rights) and factual interests (possession). While such a division is useful, it should not be seen as absolute, since possession, though largely a question of fact, could also have certain legal consequences. But first the Roman classification of property must be considered.
Chapter
7. Acquiring Ownership
This chapter discusses the acquisition of ownership in Roman law. It covers derivative modes of acquiring ownership; original modes of acquiring ownership; and gifts. The methods of acquiring ownership inter vivos can be classified in a number of ways. For example, some methods can be described in modern civilian systems as ‘original’—where the acquisition of ownership did not depend on there being a prior owner—whereas others were derivative, i.e. where ownership was derived from a prior owner. Or some methods were formal, others causal: in the former case ownership passed because of the use of particular form and ceremony, whereas in the latter case ownership depended on the ground or ‘cause’ of the acquisition.
Chapter
3. Roman Litigation
This chapter begins with a discussion of the perils of litigation in early Rome. It then describes the legis actiones, the five early forms of action in Roman law. All the legis actiones were characterized by strict formalism and were only available to Roman citizens. The actions-at-law were the foundation of early civil procedure. However, the excessive formality, archaic nature, and limited effectiveness of the legis actiones made it unsuitable in the long term for a rapidly expanding, economically vibrant Rome. The system fell largely into disuse in the late Republic and was formally abolished by Augustus in 17 BC, by which time the formulary procedure had long become established. The formulary system remained the operative system of civil procedure well into the Empire but was later abolished in favour of the cognitio procedure; its operation is considered in its developed form in the later Empire.
Chapter
5. The Roman Family
This chapter is devoted to the Roman law of persons and family. As in modern legal studies, so in Roman law, it is the first branch of private law that students are taught, primarily in order to understand the concept of ‘legal personhood’. This chapter covers the paterfamilias (head of the household); marriage and divorce; adoption; and guardianship. The head of the household was the eldest living male ancestor of a specific family. He had in his power (potestas) all descendants traced through the male line (and also exercised forms of control over other members of the household). Roman law accorded the head of the household extensive legal entitlements, not only vis-à-vis the members of the household, but also its property. The motivation of this state of affairs lies in the recognition in Roman law of the family unit as legally significant entity.
Book
Paul J. du Plessis
Course-focused and comprehensive, Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law provide an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law provides an account of Roman private law and civil procedure, with coverage of all key topics, including the Roman legal system, and the law of persons, property, and obligations. The text sets the law in its social and historical context, and demonstrates the impact of Roman law on our modern legal systems. For the sixth edition, the text has been comprehensively reviewed and references to a wide range of scholarly texts have been included, to ground the account of Roman law firmly in contemporary scholarship. Examples from legal practice have been added where these illuminate legal doctrine. The text has been updated to reflect current scholarly opinions. References to the latest legal scholarship on Roman law have been included to reflect the most recent developments in the field.
Chapter
10. Obligations Arising from Delict
This chapter discusses the Roman law of delict. It covers wrongful damage to property; theft and robbery; insulting behaviour; praetorian delicts; liability for damage caused by animals; and the quasi-delict. A delict, as one of the main sources of an obligation, can be defined in broad terms as a wrongful act which causes damage to someone’s personality, his family, or his property, and for which the victim or his heirs is entitled to compensation. There is an obvious parallel between the Roman delict and the common law tort; but the analogy should not be pursued too far since the Roman law of delict had a strong penal element—the law penalized the conduct of the wrongdoer, as well as ensuring that the victim was adequately compensated.
Chapter
2. The Sources of Roman Law
This chapter discusses the sources of Roman law. It covers sources of law in the archaic period; sources of law in the Republic; sources of law in the Empire; the post-classical era; and Justinian’s codification of Roman law. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive and finite list of the sources of Roman law, since the Roman jurists never defined the term ‘source of law’ and different sources were emphasized at certain periods in the history of the Roman legal system to reflect their prominence as instruments of legal reform. There are three statements in which the sources of Roman law are listed, seemingly without any specific order. The earliest is by Cicero in the first century BC. The second is a comment by the second-century jurist Gaius in his Institutes. The latter was adopted and amended in Justinian’s Institutes of the sixth century AD.
Chapter
4. Status, Slavery, and Citizenship
Legal status lay at the heart of the law of persons. Rome developed into a highly stratified society in which the different gradations of status were reflected in a myriad of detailed rules. So, the law of persons describes the various categories and degrees of status in Roman law, and how status could be acquired or lost. Issues such as slavery and citizenship are fundamental, but the bulk of the law is concerned with the family. This chapter first considers the question of legal personality. It then discusses the rules on status; freedom and the law of slavery; and the legal position of free persons: citizens and non-citizens.
Chapter
8. Inheritance
This chapter discusses the Roman law of inheritance. It covers intestacy; making a will; heirs; legacies; testamentary freedom; the failure of wills, heirs, and legacies; and codicils and trusts. The importance of inheritance as a means by which property can be acquired is obvious. A Roman citizen might easily pass through life untouched by the rules, say, of usucapion or accessio, but he could not escape the operation of the law of inheritance (or at least his estate could not when he died). And he would often have inherited property himself on the death of family members or friends. Moreover, inheritance, unlike most other forms of acquisition of property, involved the transfer of the whole of a person’s property.
