1)1 



ROMAN I.A\V. 



ROMANCK 



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the responsa of those only were to be 10 considered who had received 

 permSonto nuke law (j lira ooodere) ; and he add* that if they all 

 greed, their o]>mi. .ii w.ut to be considered as Uw ; if they disagreed, 

 the judcx might follow which opinion he pleased. The matter is thus 

 Ml in aome obscurity, and, for want of more precise information, we 

 can only conjecture what waa the preoiae way in which these licensed 

 juriata under the empire were empowered to declare the law. It in 

 however cleaa, both from the nature f the caae and the statement of 

 Uaiuti, that their functions were limited to exposition, or to th< 

 ration of what was law in a given caw, and that they had in> iH>wer to 

 nuke new roles of law as such ; further, the licensed jurist* must hare 

 formed a body or college, for otherwise it is not possible to conceive 

 h..\v the opinions of the majority could be ascertained on any given 



The commencement of a more systematic exposition of law un-lei- 

 the empire is indicated by the fact of the existence of two distinct 

 aecU or schools (scholia) of jurists. These schools originated under 

 Augustus, and the heads of each were respectively two distinguished 

 jurists, Antisteus Labeo and Ateius Capito. But the schools took 

 their names from other jurists. The followers of Capito's school, called 

 Sabiniaui, derived their name from Massurius Sabinus, a pupil of 

 Capito, who lived under Tiberius and as late as the time of Nero : 

 ometimra they were called Cassiani, from C. Caasius Longinus, 

 another distinguished pupil of Capito. The other school was called 

 Pruculiani, from 1'roculus, a follower of Labeo. If wo may take the 

 authority of Pomponius, the characteristic difference of the two schools 

 was this : Capito adhered to what was transmitted, that is, he looked 

 out for positive rules sanctioned by time ; Labeo had more learning 

 and a greater variety of knowledge, and accordingly he was ready to 

 make innovation*, for ho had more confidence in himself; in other 

 words, he was a philosophical more than an historical jurist. Gains, 

 who was himself a Sabinian, often refers to discrepancy of opinion 

 between the two schools; but it is not easy to collect from the 

 instances which he mentions what ought to be considered as their 

 characteristic differences. 



Tin- jurisprudentes were not only authorised expounders of law, but 

 they were most voluminous writers. Massurius Sabinus wrote three 

 books Juris Civilis, which formed the model of subsequent writers. 

 The commentators on the Edict were also wry numerous, and .uM.<nj 

 them are the names of Pomponius, Gain-, I'lpian. n<l I'.iulus. Gains 

 wrote an elementary work, which furnished the model of the Institutes 

 i >f Justinian. Commentaries were also written on various Leges, and 

 on the Scnatus Consults of the Imperial period; and finally, the 

 writings of the earlier jurists themselves were commented on by their 

 successor*. The long series of writer: to whom the name of classical 

 jurists has been given, ends, about the time of Alexander Severn*, with 

 Modestinus, who was a pupil of L'lpian. Some idea may be formed of 

 the vast mass of their writings from the titles of their works as pre- 

 served in the ' Digest,' and from the ' Index Florentine ; ' but with 

 the exception of the fragments which were selected by the compilers 

 of that work, this great mass of juristical literature is nearly lost. 

 [JUSTINIAN, in Bioo. Div.] 



Among the sources of jaw in the Imperial period are the Imperial 

 Conotitutionca. A Constitutio Principis is defined by Gains (L 5) to 

 ..at which the imperator has constituted by Decrctum, Edictum, 

 !! i ; nor lias it ever been doubted that such constitutio has 

 tin- force of law." As the emperor ultimately possessed all the sove- 

 reign power, he became the sole source of law. Under Augustus some 

 Leges were passed, as already observed ; ami under his successors 

 there were numerous Senatus Cunsulta. In the time of the Autonines 

 there were both Senatus Consults and Imperial constitutions, and the 

 latter are referred to by Gaius as being of equally binding force with 

 Senatus Consult*. After the time of Gains, Constitutiones became 

 more common, and few Senatus Consul ta were passed. The Decrctum 

 of the emperor was a decision made in a matter of dispute which rame 

 before him either originally or by way of appeal The Edict, or Leges 

 Edictales, were formed by analogy to the Edict* of the magistrates, 

 and were in effect Leges. Rescriptum was a general term which com- 

 prehended EpistoUo and Subscriptiones. The Kescripta were the 

 answers of the emperor, made either to public functionaries or to 

 individuals who consulted him. Sometimes Coiutitutio and I 

 tiiui ore used as equivalent. (Gains, ii. 120, 121.) Deer. 

 Kescripta, being decisions in particular coses, could not by their form 

 have the force of leges ; though when the determination made in a 

 particular case was capable of a general application, it gradually 

 obtained the force of law. 



With the decline of Roman jurisprudence began the period of 

 compilations, or codes, as they were termed. The earliest were the 

 Codex Oregorianus and Hrrmogenionus, which are only known h..m 

 fragment/-. The Codex Gregorianus, so far as we know it, began with 

 constitutions of Sept. Severn*, and ended with those of Diocletian and 

 Maximian. The Codex Hermogenianus, so far as it is known, contained 

 constitution* also of Diocletian and Maximum, and perhaps some of a 

 later date. Though these codes were mere private collections, they 

 aplrent)y came to be considered as authority, and the codes of 



Inriiu and Juxtinion were formed on their model 

 The code of Tbeodowas was compiled under the authority of 

 Theodosiua II., emperor of the East. It was promulgated as law in 



the Eastern Empire, A.D. 438 ; and in the same year it was confirmed 

 as law in the Western Empire by Valeutiuiau III. and the Roman 

 senate. This code consists of sixteen books, the greater part of which , 

 as well as of the Novella), subsequently promulgated by Theodosius 11., 

 are extant in their original form. The commission who compiled ii 

 were instructed to collect all the Kdicta and Leges Qenerales from the 

 time of Constantino, and to follow the Codex Gregorianua and Hermo- 

 geuianus as their model. Though the arrangement of the subsequent 

 code of Justinian flitters considerably from that of Theodosius, it is 

 '.< 'i from a comparison of them that the compilers of Justinian's 

 code were greatly aided by that of bis imperial predecessor. The 

 valuable edition of the Theodosian Code, by J. Gothofredus (6 vols. 

 foL, Lugd., 1665), re-edited by Ritter, Leipzig, 1730-1745, contains the 

 first five books and the beginning of the sixth, only as they are epito- 

 mised in the Breviarium ; and this is also the case with the edition of 

 the ' Jus Civile Antejustiuianeum,' published at Berlin in 1815. But 

 recent discoveries have greatly contributed to improve the first five. 

 books. The most recent edition of the ' Jus Civile Antejustiuiaueum ' 

 is that of Bonn, 1835 and 1837. 

 The legislation of Justinian is treated of under JI^TINIAX'. ! 



LATION. 



There ore numerous works on the history of the Roman law, bnt it 

 will be sufficient to mention a few of the more recent, as they contain 

 references to all the earlier works : Lehrbuck dcr Gemhichte dtx Ifiimisdttn 

 Her/its, by Hugo, of which there are numerous editions ; ' 

 Jliimltelitii Privatrecltti, by Zimmern ; Qeicluchte da KHmixJien Sec/Us, 

 by K. Walter, 1840 ; and for the later history of the Roman law, 

 (jackichte det Romitclien Rn-lttt im ilitlelallcr, by Savigny. 



ROMAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING. [PADRDTOJ 



ROMANCE originally signified any composition in the romance 

 language, or dialects which superseded the Latin after the. fall of the 

 Western Empire. [KOMAMF. LANUCAGE.] As however, in CUM 

 time, the Trouveres of North France composed a number of | 

 containing fictitious narratives of war and love, and their lays became, 

 popular all over France and in the neighbouring countries, the n 

 romance was more particularly applied to all compositions, whether 

 in verse or prose, in any language, which treated of marvellous en- 

 uncommon incidents, and the name has been retained to this day in 

 several European languages to signify a fictitious narrative. The 

 Italians and French call a novel " tm romauzo," " uu roman." But the 

 French call an historical ballad " une romance," in the feminine gender. 

 The distinction between romance and the modern novel is shown 

 under NOVEL. The appellation romance in a narrower sense is apj'lie i 

 to those compositions which refer to the ages of chivalry, eitlu 

 or supposed. [CHIVALRY.] 



t The oldest romances in this latter sense appear to have been 

 legendary stories concerning Arthur and the Knights of the Round 

 Table, and they were of English origin ; but the original narrat i 

 they ever existed in writing, which is doubtful, are lost. The i 

 romantic legends which have come down to us are of the 12th century : 

 Geoffrey of Momuouth's Latin Chronicle of England; Turpin's l.ntin 

 Chronicle of France ; Wace's ' Le Brut," a metrical romance concerning 

 tin fabulous history of England, in Norinan French; ' Le Roman du 

 Ron,' by the same writer, concerning Rollo and his successors ; and 

 ' I Reali di Francia,' in Italian prose. To these may be added the 

 Latin romance of Gualtieri, found in the. Chronicle of La N" 

 which relates to the wars of Attila ; next in order of date comes ( iuido 

 della Colonna's ' War of Troy,' and Mathew Paris's account of the 

 Round Table. The ' Roman do la Rose ' was written under St. Louis 

 of France. At that time chivalry waa established over all Europe, ami 

 the writers of romance introduced the customs and manners of 

 chivalry into their narratives of events, real or supposed, long ante- 

 cedent to the existence of chivalry. 



The vast subject of romantic literature, in its general and more 

 extended sense, may be divided into the following branches : 1 , 

 Romantic ballads and traditional songs, which appear to be the oldest 

 form, and which have existed among most nations in their primitive 

 state. The songs of the ancient bards, and those concerning Aruiinins, 

 wlii<-h are mentioned by Tacitus ('Annal.' ii. 88, and 'German.', 2) ; 

 the German Niebelungen ; the poems of Antar, and others before the 

 :rra of Mohammed ; the song of Roland, mentioned by the chroniclers 

 of Charlemagne ; and the old Spanish romantic ballads, all belong to 

 this class. M. do Tressan collected several fragments among the 

 mountaineers of the Pyrenees, which seem to belong to Roland's 

 ' Cantilena,' or war song. 2, The narrative romances of ehiv.ib 

 corning the deeds of Arthur and the peers of the Round Table. ."., 

 The romances concerning the supposed wars of Charlemagne against 

 the Saracens. 4, The Spanish and Portuguese romances concerning 

 the fabulous exploits of Amadis and Palmerin. 5, The classic ron 

 concerning Jason, Hercules, Alexander, those heroes having l'n 

 transformed into knights of chivalry. 0, The epic romances of the 

 Italians in the 15th and Kith centuries. [PULCI, in Bioo. Div.J 7, 

 The spiritual or religious romances concerning the miracles of saints 

 and the death of martyrs, such as the ' Contes devote ' of the French, 

 the ' Golden Legend,' ic. 8, The pastoral romance, which Cervantes 

 ridiculed, and which afterwards gave rise in the 17th century to the 

 interminable and dull romances of La Calprenede, Madame de Scudery, 

 and others, in which perfection of beauty and pure spiritual love are 



