law

ANTONIO SACCOCCIO

The course aims to the knowledge of the Roman legal-religious system, in its historical development through the centuries, from the age of the regnum to the libera res publica, up to the orbis Romanus of the age of the Empire and, therefore, up to the consonantia between imperium and sacerdotium theorized by the Emperor Justinian.

Knowledge and understanding: the aim of the course is to provide students with an adequate knowledge of the fundamental notions of Roman public law, as they have evolved during the diachronic evolution.

Applied knowledge and understanding: the expected result at the end of the lessons is that the student, possessing knowledge of the fundamental notions of Roman public law, is able to grasp its evolution and outcomes in contemporary law, also grasping the links with the institutions currently in force in contemporary democracies of Romanistic derivation.

Making judgments: the expected result at the end of the course is that the student has developed a sufficiently autonomous ability to analyze Roman public law institutes, and knows how to connect them in a common systematic framework, which is coherent as a whole.

Communication skills: at the end of the course the student must be able to adequately explain the notions of Roman private law learned, being capable of autonomously making logical-juridical connections within the subject, with an appropriate legal language.

Learning skills: at the end of the course the expected result is that the student is able to reconstruct the Roman roots of the public law institutions currently in force, also grasping the fundamental junctions of their evolution.

It is required to pass the exam of Institutions of Roman Law.

1. Law (ius) and justice (iustitia). The law and its partitions: public and private law; civil law, the law of the foreigners (ius gentium) natural law; Civil Law, honorary. Sources of production of law: laws, plebiscites, senatus, constitutions of the prince, edicts of magistrates, lawyers' opinions, customs and mores.
2. The Compilation of Justinian; other sources of the law.
3. The origins: ancient structures and 'foundation'.
4. The monarchy.
5. The Twelve Tables
6. The republican constitution: the patrician-plebeian conflict
7. The republican constitution: the magistrates; the senate; the popular assemblies.
8. The Roman jurisprudence and the process.
9. The organization of Italy and the provinces.
10. The imperial republic from Augustus to Justinian.

1) G. GROSSO, Lezioni di storia del diritto romano, Torino, Giappichelli, 1965, 4 ed.;

or

2) A. PETRUCCI, Corso di diritto pubblico romano, Giappichelli, 2012

or


3) P. Buongiorno-M.Varvaro, Percorsi di storia del diritto romano, Editoriale scientifica, Napoli, 2024

RECOMMENDED READING
A. SACCOCCIO, Controglobalizzazione. Ritornare a Roma, rifondare l'universale nel diritto, Mucchi editore, Modena, 2025.

Lessons ex cathedra; exercices; seminars

It is highly recommended frequency. Attending students can participate to tests before the examination

The exam consists of a single test and is held orally.
To achieve the sufficiency (18/30) the student must first of all demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental institutes of Roman public law; secondly, the examinee must be able to grasp the links that link the various institutions of Roman public law to each other, in a coherent and homogeneous framework.
In order to achieve a higher evaluation, the student must also demonstrate that he has acquired the method of legal argumentation, expressing himself with an adequate and correct property of language.
The test is considered passed with full marks (30/30 cum laude) if the candidate shows a particular capacity for in-depth analysis and for a logical and coherent connection between the various institutes.

The sources of law;
The consuls;
The imperium;
The tetrarchy;
The centuriate rally;
The magistracies;
Coloniae and municipia.