Published: 2022-08-20

De-sacralizing Gaius

Maria Zabłocka
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.11

Abstract

The information available in Gaius’ Institutions on the most ancient institutions of Roman law, such as the sacramentum, confarreatio, coemptio, adrogatio, or testamentum calatis comitiis, only had a historical value by the 2nd century AD, when they were drawn up; and they were not a faithful representation of their original sense. We have only arrived at the original religious and legal meaning of the earliest Roman institutions thanks to the research which has been done to retrieve it. Hence, in my opinion, the commentary we have in Gaius on the Twelve Tables most probably does not show the original arrangement or sense of the earliest memorial we have of Roman law, because it fails to connote the relationship of ius with fas, which was an extremely important association for Roman society in the archaic period.

Keywords:

Gaius; sacramentum; confarreatio; coemptio; adrogatio; sacra privata.

Download files

Citation rules

Zabłocka, M. (2022). De-sacralizing Gaius. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 22(2), 241–265. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.11

Cited by / Share


This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.