The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization | law and procedure, Roman
law and procedure, Roman The subject is here dealt with in three sections: civil law; civil procedure; and criminal law and procedure.
1. Civil law
(ius civile) in its broadest sense was the law of the city of Rome as opposed to that of some other city. In a narrower sense it refers to the secular law of Rome, private and public, to the exclusion of sacred law (ius sacrum). This section deals, so far as the sources of law are concerned, with civil law in the first sense, but as regards substantive law is confined to the second.
From the standpoint of sources the beginning and end of Roman civil law are conveniently marked by the Twelve Tables and Justinian's codification. Dating from about 450 BC the law of the Twelve Tables was treated by the Romans as the starting-point of their legal history. Though much of it became obsolete it was never technically superseded...
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