Curated playlist
Roman law
- Codex GregorianusThe Codex Gregorianus, a private Roman law collection, shaped European law down to 1804.
- Lex AquiliaUnder Rome's Lex Aquilia, killing a slave meant paying their highest price of the past year.
- Lex Fufia CaniniaIn 2 BC, Augustus capped how many slaves a Roman could free in a will. The Lex Fufia Caninia set the limit.
- Roman lawAround 1070, a lost copy of Roman law's Digest turned up in Italy. Bologna scholars studied it.
- Dignitas (Roman concept)When his career ended, Cicero rewrote what dignitas meant. He redefined the Roman idea as "lifetime impact."
- Corpus Juris CivilisEmperor Justinian ordered all Roman law gathered, trimmed and reissued as one book. Other sources were forbidden.
- Colonies in antiquityWhy did some ancient colonies stay loyal to a distant mother-city while others broke free at once?
- Edict of MilanThe Edict of Milan did not make Christianity Rome's official religion. In 313 it granted religious liberty to everyone.
- JurisprudenceJurisprudence, also called the theory or philosophy of law, asks a question that most working lawyers never need to ask. A lawyer wants to know what the law says on one issue in one jurisdiction. A philosopher of law looks instead for the…
- Roman tribeA Roman tribe decided a man's taxes, army service and where his vote counted. Later, its assembly could only cheer.
- ImperiumIn ancient Rome, you could read a magistrate's power by counting his attendants. A consul had 12 lictors, a praetor 6.
- Patronage in ancient RomeIn ancient Rome, a crowd trailing behind a man measured his standing. Patrons counted clients as proof of prestige.
- Roman magistrateRome's two consuls swapped who ranked higher every month. The Republic split the king's power so neither ruled alone.