Roman Republic: The Laws Of The Twelve Tables

The Code of Hammurabi from the ancient Babylonian civilization, and the Twelve Tables from Ancient Rome society were both sets of laws from by which their societies had to abide. The Ancient Babylonian society abided by the Code of Hammurabi while the Ancient Romans abided by The Twelve Tables. Although they both served as promising laws to live by, they also served as tools that defined and distinguished each citizen’s position in the social order. Depending on where they stood in the social order, any criminal punishment would be tailored to that specific class. In Mesopotamian history, the most consummate code of law was the Code of Hammurabi, engendered by the King Hammurabi. The Twelve Tables was created by the Roman elites in order to create justice and fairness between the plebian and patricians. Both these sets of laws, although belonging to different societies, sought to create the illusion of fairness and equality outwardly towards the people, and inwardly, reward the rich and elite of their respective social class with power. Although these sets of laws belonged to different societies, they both casted an illusion of fairness and equality. However, in actuality these regulations only benefited the rich and elite.

Some of the comparisons of Rome and the United States are, Rome’s 12 tables/US laws, an example is that for Rome and the US that if you are fined and don’t pay for it more money is tacked on to the original amount until you pay the amount. Another law this is the same is that in Rome it was that no one can be put to death without conviction, no matter what the crime or who he may be and the US is the same you are innocent until a judgment is made at court. Some more laws that are the same is one that says a father had the right of life and death over his children. It is the same as the father should have the right to take his life for his kids.

Greece influenced roman societies and modern day societies politically as explained in documents 1, 2, 4, and 6. Greece was the first ancient civilization to have a democracy. The basic rule for roman society law system was displayed in the twelve tables. (Doc 2) Many western civilizations adapted this law system as well as other ideas from the roman 12 tables which influenced western societies immensely. The document explains a quote that we still use in modern society which is “every man is innocent until proven guilty.” Octavian Augustus states that after he dies “the foundations which I have laid for its future government will stand firm and stable” the Greeks invented an idea of a ruling senate which today is known as democracy. (Doc 4)

After one simply reads the title of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, one immediately concludes the act of stealing is a very prominent feature in the novel. In fact, the first violation of the law takes place in the very first chapter, when the protagonist Liesel Meminger, steals a grave digger’s manual. As the plot progresses, stealing becomes even more frequent. Purely out of hunger, Liesel and her best friend, Rudy, join a band of boys who steal fruit from a nearby orchard. In addition to her hunger for food, Liesel began starving for books, “her hunger to read… was as intense as any ten-year-old human could experience” (Zusak pg. 66). The most “noble” thefts earned Liesel the nickname the “book thief.” Initially Liesel only steals books the

In the 1700s, the Colonists were enraged how the British Parliament were treating them. The British Parliament had been constantly ignoring their rights and forcing taxes upon the colonies. This set an outroar in the colonies, especially in Massachusetts. Parliament had created new laws that limited the Massachusetts-bay in shipping and landing goods and also an act that for a better regulation government in this providence. All of the colonists deemed this as “Impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitutional, and most dangerous and destructive of American rights”(Declaration and Resolves, para. 3) This forced them to send Parliament a document called, Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress. This document was

Over a long course of time the Romans had many different forms of government. From oligarchies to dictatorships Rome had experience with most forms of government. With all of these happening so far in the past many questions are asked today. One of the most talked and quested forms of Roman government is the Roman Republic. The Republic of Rome is normally thought to be a democracy. But an extremely common question still arise. This questions is whether the Roman Republic was truly democratic. In a simple answer the Roman Republic was a democratic government.

“This cursed Jew hym hente” Anti-Semitism, Despotism, and recognition of the bereft of life in Chaucer’s The Prioress Tale”

Some policies and institutions of the Roman Republic were useful to help them succeed in conquering first Italy and then the Mediterranean world. Before of the institution of the republic, the romans were a monarchy since their beginning and they were basically a pastoral people. Rome suffer several changes and improvements under the control of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscan were civilization settled north of Rome in Etruria, and they once had control over almost all the Italic peninsula. The Etruscans influences in Rome were profound, they transformed Rome from a pastoral community to a city (91). The Etruscan built the street and roads that help the development of temples, markets, shops, streets, and houses. They basically brought urbanization to Rome. It is fairly to say that the Rome republic was a fusion between the elements of the Etruscan civilization and the Rome elements. The combination of the different political institutions and policies made the Romans succeed in their conquest territories.

The Roman republic had set a specific set of laws that each person was suppose to abide by. These set of laws were known as the Twelve Tables. After reading the selections from the Twelve Tables, I gather that the Roman society was very strict and harsh, and its conception of justice was more based on punishment than it was on negotiating the situation and coming to a clear resolution. The Romans were more blunt with their punishments, they saw “black and white”, no grey area when making decisions in court, which means that everything was a yes or no, no one person had the opportunity to talk about any of their crimes, it was straight to punishment, or if they were found to be not guilty then they were not punished. In Table IV : Rights of Head of Family, it expresses just how cruel they were, “Quickly kill… a dreadfully deformed child” (Spielvogel p. 116). In my opinion, this law is wicked because no one should be killed just because of the way that they look, especially if they were born that way and can not help it.

The Twelve Tables were the first laws ever written down and shown to the public in Ancient Rome. The Twelve Tables were displayed in the Roman Forum or marketplace. The Twelve Tables were also the earliest surviving writings of Ancient Rome.

Rome is a beautiful place, with lots of history. Rome and the U.S. weare different in law, religion,and activities.They are similar to each other, but they’re nothing alike at the same time.

Justice has been misperceived to go hand and hand with rules in which a society must conform to, mostly in due part to the enlightenment era. In the case with the Romans, the laws they established, especially early on, dealing with the spread of Christianity has been interpreted with a sense of disgust for the unfair treatment targeted towards Christians, and later on to those of other faiths. However, I argue that, Roman law, when concerning religion, was used to strengthen the identity of what it meant to be Roman. Furthermore, as Rome, the political institution, was beginning to decay, as an act of acclamation, the formulation of Roman Laws allowed Christianity to be a main means of connection to what it meant to identify as Roman. Utilizing various primary sources, it is evident that faith had been gradually accepted as the dominant form of unity and law, beginning with Emperor Diocletian to Emperor Theodosia, even among emperors, the Catholic faith had shown that all men were under God, and under God they were all Roman.

Roman law in the republic was often based on custom (Paul-Louis). During the Roman Empire, however, the emperor became the final source of law. Roman law was one of the original products of the Roman mind. They created the Twelve Tables, which was the first Roman code of law developed during the early republic. Roman civil law allowed great flexibility in adopting new ideas or extending principles in the complex environment of the empire. This was to establish laws that allowed greater fairness. Early Roman law

By that time, the Republic had extended its control throughout the Mediterranean Sea and as far as Britain. That control would operate under an informal unwritten constitution, and establish the use of Latin as its official language, while codifying rights, responsibilities, and status under a written law. Beginning with the Law of the Twelve Tables, Roman jurisprudence would develop over the next one thousand years into a legal system that would eventually become the early basis for law in continental Europe. Even English and North American “common law” owes more than a passing debt to the Romans. Case law and precedents find their roots in a Latin legal term, stare decisis, meaning “ to stand by things decided”. The development of a written law was seen as a method of eliminating indiscriminant application of the law by magistrates and officials upon the lower plebeian class.

The Roman Republic was a “democratic” republic, which allowed first citizens to vote, and to choose their governors in the senate (Hence, their consuls). However, it was a nation ruled by its aristocracy, and, consequently, the entire Republic`s power was concentrated in a few individuals. Furthermore, the Senate was controlled by Patricians, which directed the government by using wealth to buy control and power over the decisions of the senate and the consuls. This situation aroused the inconformity of the people; as result, a civil war took place in the Republic (destroying it), and then the Roman Empire was born.