Rome- The Law of the XII Tables

Hello everyone, once again, it is my pleasure to continue with more contributions to this blog of mine. Today I bring you a paper I wrote some time ago on one of my favorite subjects; Roman Law. This post focuses on the Law of the XII and how it radically changed Roman Law by setting religion and law as two separate fields which has enabled Roman Law to evolve from an archaic primitive system to the sophisticated legal framework that has shaped most of the western world. I hope you enjoy it, reviews are always welcome.

Why was the Law of the XII Tables of such importance in the process of the emancipation from the religious sphere of law as a secular order?

During the beginnings of the archaic period of Roman Law, the religious and the legal fields were closely connected. The link between the two was so strong that religious authorities, or pontiffs, possessed most of the legal information. Their function was not only to preserve this information but also to offer advice to those citizens facing a legal conflict. These services took place by a method of answers and questions called responsa which followed an oracle-like procedure. Its ritualistic nature can reflect to what extent religion and superstition shaped the Roman law at this stage. However, this situation would change, producing a separation of the legal and religious fields which would become later an important characteristic of the Roman law. Many factors may have contributed to this separation, nevertheless, the most important one initiated this process; the Law of the XII Tables.

The Law of the XII Tables was created in 450 BC as a result of the plebeians demanding a codification of the law. This law consisted of twelve bronze tables that were displayed in the Forum Romanum, (which was basically the political and civic heart of the city). On these tables the different rules regarding property law, family law...etc were written down for everyone to read. One of the most important factors of the Law of the XII Tables is that it was equally accessible for everybody, as its content was publicly displayed. This highly deviated from the way in which responsa worked, which was restricted to certain social classes or legal cases. Due to the accessibility, the Law of the XII Tables flourished among the Republic. As a consequence, the gradual but imminent decline of the pontiffs role in the legal sphere took place. However as the XII Tables were mostly oriented to plebeians, they were quite rudimentary and the only method that people had to learn them was to memorise them by heart. Only pontiffs were aware of the exceptions of the laws as well as the complexity of the Roman legal system and had access to the few legal documents of the time. This is why the religious sphere was able to protect and preserve some of its legal power for a while.

.

In conclusion, even though the Law of the XII Tables did not completely eliminate the relevance of religious authorities, it was successful enough to start the process of separation between the religious and the legal field. Romans started to depend less on the pontiffs’ advice and this gradually diminished their say concerning legal issues thus the Law of the XII Tables became a vital and important factor in the process the emancipation and the precursor of the well known ius (right/law) and fas (religion) one of the most outstanding achievements of Roman Law.