The rule of law in Ancient Rome / edited by Eleanor Cowan, Kit Morrell, Andrew Pettinger, Michael Sevel.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cowan, Eleanor (Eleanor Rachel), editor.

Morrell, Kit, editor.

Pettinger, Andrew, editor.

Sevel, Michael, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Roman law.

Rule of law--Rome.

Rule of law.

Rome (Empire).

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2025.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"This volume brings together the study of the rule of law—the idea that the law should protect citizens from arbitrary exercises of power—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 extent to 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. Part I offers an overview of the modern concept of the rule of law and some of the challenges and possibilities of seeking a rule of law in ancient Rome. Part II focuses on the Roman republic and the relationship between key institutions and the law (including the senate, magistrates, people, and state religion), as well as the attitudes of some prominent late republican individuals towards the rule of law. Part III on the principate and empire explores aspirations for the rule of law in the wake of civil war, the relationship between the emperor and the law, and the nature of the emperor’s role as above the law but guarantor of justice. Together, the chapters reveal a world where elements of the rule of law are recognizable but inconsistently realized and sometimes subordinate to alternative ideals of justice, popular sovereignty, or the personal authority of individuals."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

The Rule of Law in Ancient Rome

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Part I: Framing Questions

1: The Rule of Law A Thought Pattern

I. Introduction

II. The Pattern

(a) The society has law (that is a legal system) and the law 'rules'

(b) When it (the legal system) has certain characteristics

(c) The system protects members of that community

(d) From something regarded as bad or undesirable

III. Further Observations

IV. Conclusion

2 : In Search of a Roman Rule of Law

I. The Background

II. Some Roadblocks

III. Potential Ways Forward

IV. Conclusions

PART II: The Republic

3: Cato and the Rule of Law

I. Definitions

II. The Law Should Rule

III. Prospectivity

IV. Generality

V. Problem Cases

VI. Cato above the Law?

VII. Some Reflections-And the Road Ahead

4: The Populus and the Rule of Law

II. The Changeability of Law

III. Protecting Law from the People

IV. From Theory to Practice

V. The Opposing View: Whatever the People Order?

VI. Conclusion: Tradition and Innovation

5: 'Rule of Law' and the Gods in the Late Republic

I. Expectations of the 'Rule of Law' in the Republic

II. The Role of the Gods: Consultation and Control in 59 BCE

III. Responses and Reactions in the Fifties BCE

6: The Praetor's Edict and the Rule of Law

I. The Formulary System and Its Antecedents

II. Arbitrariness and Instability

III. Regulating a Magistrate

IV. The Lex Cornelia of 67 BCE and Its Limitations

V. The Jurists and the Praetor's Edict

VI. The Presence of 'Thought Patterns'

VII. Nature of the Roman Experience

VIII. Conclusion

7: Non Iure Rogata The People, the Senate, and the Rule of Law in Republican Rome

I. Legislation and the Rule of Law

II. Annulment

III. The Senate Acts

IV. The Lex Caecilia Didia

V. The Emergence of Senatorial Annulment

VI. Violence

VII. Senatorial Restraint

VIII. Roman Institutions and the Rule of Law

8: Not in the Last Instance

I. Pro Rabirio Perduellionis

II. Laws without Courts?

III. De Legibus in General

Part III: Principate and Empire

9: Aspiration, Accountability, and Abuse Augustus and the Law in Post-Conflict Rome

I. Aspiration for the Return of the (Rule of?) Law: Law, Legitimate Authority, and Leadership

II. Calling for Accountability and Calling Out Abuse: The Death of Quintus Gallius

III. What Is the Relationship between Augustus and the Law? The Trial of Marcus Primus

10: Princeps Legibus Solutus Est an Non? Cultures of Legality in the Roman Empire

II. Conceptual Framework: The 'Rule of Law' and 'Cultures of Legality'

III. The Princeps and the Law

Imperial adjudication

Petition and response

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed October 17. 2025)

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

9780198959359

0198959354

OCLC:

1533463169

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license