1 Introduction： Rome—a historical sketch 1
1.1 Monarchy 1
1.2 Republic 3
1.3 Empire 12
Further reading 23
PART Ⅰ The Roman Legal System 27
2 The sources of Roman law 27
2.1 Sources of law in the archaic period 27
2.2 Sources of law in the Republic 29
2.3 Sources of law in the Empire 39
2.4 The post-classical era 50
2.5 Justinian’s codification 54
Further reading 61
3 Roman litigation 63
3.1 The perils of litigation 63
3.2 Early procedure： the legis actiones 66
3.3 The formulary system 72
3.4 The cognitio procedure 79
Further reading 82
PART Ⅱ The Law of Persons 85
4 Status， slavery， and citizenship 85
4.1 Legal personality 85
4.2 Status 87
4.3 Freedom and the law of slavery 87
4.4 Citizens and non-citizens 99
Further reading 109
5 The Roman family 110
5.1 The paterfamilias and his household 110
5.2 Marriage and divorce 117
5.3 Adoption 132
5.4 Guardianship 136
Further reading 147
PART Ⅲ The Law of Property and Inheritance 151
6 Interests in property 151
6.1 The classification of property 151
6.2 Ownership 155
6.3 Servitudes 159
6.4 Contractual proprietary interests 170
6.5 Possession 171
Further reading 177
7 Acquiring ownership 178
7.1 Derivative modes of acquiring ownership 178
7.2 Original modes of acquiring ownership 184
7.3 Gifts 202
Further reading 204
8 Inheritance 205
8.1 Introduction 205
8.2 Better to make a will？ 205
8.3 Intestacy 207
8.4 Making a will 213
8.5 Heirs 223
8.6 Legacies 227
8.7 Testamentary freedom 232
8.8 Failure 237
8.9 Codicils and trusts 240
Further reading 245
PART Ⅳ The Law of Obligations 249
9 Obligations： general principles and obligations arising from contracts 249
9.1 Obligations in general 249
9.2 General features of Roman contracts 253
9.3 Consensual contracts 260
9.4 Verbal contracts 289
9.5 Contracts re 296
9.6 Contracts litteris 304
9.7 Innominate contracts 305
9.8 Pacts 309
9.9 Quasi-contract 311
Further reading 316
10 Obligations arising from delict 317
10.1 Introduction 317
10.2 Wrongful damage to property 319
10.3 Theft and robbery 329
10.4 Insulting behaviour 338
10.5 Praetorian delicts 343
10.6 Liability for delicts committed by animals 347
10.7 Quasi-delict 349
Further reading 352
PART Ⅴ Roman Law and the Modern World 355
11 Roman law and the European ius commune 355
11.1 The legacy of Justinian’s codification in the Dark Ages 356
11.2 The second life of Roman law 360
11.3 Roman law in England 384
Further reading 389
Bibliography 391
Index of Texts 400
Index 405