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Indiana University Studies 
the Roman law as codified under Justinian. Yet it was a de- 
veloped system of law. Hence if Britain had retained the 
Roman law it would have retained a system of law which 
would not have needed much further development, as measured 
by modern standards, and there would be very little material 
for historical inquiry. But when the Roman legions with- 
drew, apparently Roman law soon followed, and the task of 
climbing out of a stage of no law had to be taken up anew. 
Of course Anglo-American law has been greatly influenced 
by Roman law and has borrowed many of its principles. Be- 
cause of this fact, some maintain that there was no break 
after the Roman occupancy, but the better opinion today seems 
to be that whatever part of our law is of Roman origin came 
from the Roman law, not as it was planted in Britain during 
the Roman occupancy, but as it was again brought by Au- 
gustine’s mission in 597 and by later ecclesiastics and chancel- 
lors and justices like Holt and Mansfield. 
Anglo-American legal history, since the Roman occupancy 
and the period of no law, may be divided into five periods. 
To these Dean Roscoe Pound has given the following names: 
I. Archaic Period ; II. Strict Period ; III. Period of Equity ; IV. 
Period of Maturity ; V. Period of Socialization. These periods 
do not follow each other as buildings built side by side, but 
more as darkness turns to daylight. One period does not be- 
gin at a certain date and end at another date when another 
period begins; but one period shades into another and over- 
laps another. Some of the characteristics of the first period 
still survive in modern times in the form of self-help still per- 
mitted individuals. Characteristics of later periods are found 
in earlier periods. Hence, when Anglo-American legal his- 
tory is divided into five periods and these are given boundaries, 
all that is meant is that there comes a time when certain 
characteristics seem to predominate over others, and periods 
have been named according to their predominating character- 
istics, and periods have been said to begin and end when cer- 
tain characteristics begin and cease to predominate. 
The following table shows the English kings since the Con- 
quest, with their regnal years, the reigning houses or families, 
and the five periods named above : 
