Curiosities of ancient Rome (Law)
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Ancient universities of law
The knowledge of the origins of universities is mostly found in the Middle Ages, referring to the founding of the first university in Bologna, which took place around 1088. Of course, this university achieved great success in the process of ... Read more
Counterfeit according to Roman law
Due to the growing administration and advanced law, ancient Rome finally had to deal with the issue of document forgery, and it was one of the most serious felonies. The Law of XII Tables contained only the provisions concerning the ... Read more
Loan for consumption in Roman law
Real contracts were the oldest type of contracts in the Roman law. Eventually there were several types of contracts in this category: loan for consumption (mutuum), deposit (depositum), loan for use (commodatum) and pledge (pignus). Initially there was only the ... Read more
Ways of doing business in Rome. Companies
Companies understood today as legal entities of commercial law did not exist in ancient Rome, but there were a similar legal institutions, echoes of which can be found in today’s law. The company (societas) was a contract under which two ... Read more
Roman women and ancient business
Women in the Roman world did not have the same position as men; e.g. they could not vote in assemblies or hold public office. On the other hand, they could own land, write their own wills, and testify in court. ... Read more
Legal position of women in Rome
What was the legal position of women in ancient Rome? Books on Roman law, including, Witold Wołodkiewicz’s “Prawo rzymskie, Słownik Encyklopedyczny” provide many interesting facts about the rights and obligations that have changed over the centuries and concerned various groups. ... Read more
Marriage and children in Roman law
In 18 BCE formed lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus, introducing the obligation to remain married, and in the year 9 CE lex Papia Poppea, imposing the obligation to have children. Both laws apply to both sexes; women aged 20-50 and ... Read more
Patricide was severely punished in Rome
In Rome, patricide was considered one of the most socially offensive crimes. The punishment for such an offense in Latin was: poena cullei. The earliest record of our punishment known to us comes from around 100 BCE. It was to ... Read more
Did suicide in ancient Rome require agreement from senate?
Suicide was seen by the ancient Romans as a law that had no legal consequences. If a Roman citizen wanted to commit suicide, he could do so, with a few exceptions. Slaves, soldiers and persons sentenced to death for the ... Read more
Division of Romans into honestiores and humiliores
Together with the introduction in 212 CE the so-called edict of Caracalla (Constitutio Antoniniana) all free Romans (apart from peregrini dedicti – free foreigners) have been granted civil rights. It seemed that the emperor from that moment ruled over one ... Read more
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