The Twelve Tablets

[Anonymous]

I've been told that the Roman Law consisted of twelve tablets that were written in 451 B.C.<br>
Could some one tell me what the Law said or were I could find out what they said?<br>
The novice would appreciate it...<br>
~Quintus <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi Quintus,<br>
The Twelve Tables were not so much <i> the </i> Roman Law as that they were regarded as the foundation of it, archaic as they were. They were written down by the decemviri (board of ten men) and contained existing Roman oral law, written in terse injunctions and prohibitions in archaic language, for example 'if he has maimed another's limb, unless he settles with him, let there be retaliation'. It is the same type of law-giving that is found in one of the oldest lawbooks we know, the law of Hammurabi from ca.1750 BC. The Twelve Tables were not a systematic code in the modern sense and the decemviri did not set out the whole law on any subject. The tables simply deal with specific difficulties and matters of current dispute. The main topics are family, marriage and divorce, inheritance, ownership and transfer of property; torts and delicts; debt, slavery and transition into slavery because of debts. Public law seems not to have been included, however since the laws only survive in quotations elsewhere, we cannot be completely sure about its contents.<br>
<br>
Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/ujasperoorthuys.showPublicProfile?language=EN>Jasper Oorthuys</A> at: 5/7/01 6:51:49 am<br></i>

[Anonymous]

~Jasper<br>
Much thanks! That's cleared a few things up.<br>
~Quintus <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/uquintusromanus.showPublicProfile?language=EN>Quintus Romanus</A> at: 5/7/01 5:37:06 pm<br></i>

[Anonymous]

(more usually: Twelve Tables, Lex XII Tabularum, etc.)<br>
For further details, and the text of what we've got left of them, see<br>
<br>
www.ukans.edu/history/ind...larum.html<br>
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