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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
· Introduction
0:10 · Roman law has led a double life. For a thousand years, it grew and developed
0:15 · with the Roman state. Then, more than half a millennium after the Western
0:20 · Roman Empire fell, it reemerged as the legal framework of medieval and early modern Europe,
0:26 · and went on to inspire the civil codes used across two-thirds of the globe today.
· The Digest
0:32 · The pivot that connects these two careers is the Digest, the culmination of the most ambitious
0:38 · project in the history of Roman law. It took three years to compile -- three years, during which a
0:45 · commission set up by the Emperor Justinian sifted through more than three million lines of legal
0:51 · commentary, and condensed them into the definitive compilation of the opinions of the Roman jurists.
0:58 · The finished work, with 9,123 extracts in 50 books, was proclaimed on December 16, 533.
1:08 · It was free, the emperor declared, of errors or contradictions; it would be observed for all time.
1:16 · Roman law had been formalized by the Twelve Tables, which dated to the early
· Evolution of Roman law
1:21 · years of the Roman Republic. From those origins, it had ramified and proliferated,
1:27 · enriched by the edicts of magistrates, the decrees of emperors, and the treatises of jurists. The
1:34 · first attempts at codification coincided with the reign of Diocletian, but it was only under
1:40 · Theodosius II, in the fifth century, that an imperially-sponsored collection of laws appeared.
1:47 · The codification of Justinian produced the image of Roman law that would be transmitted
1:53 · to the Middle Ages and beyond. Besides the Digest, Justinian's compilers assembled the Institutes,
2:00 · an elementary textbook for law students, and the Code, a collection of legislation by emperors from
2:07 · Hadrian onward. Together with the Novels -- laws issued later in Justinian's reign -- the Digest,
2:15 · the Institutes, and the Code came to be collectively known as the Corpus Juris Civilis.
· How the law worked
2:23 · Before considering how the Corpus -- and especially the Digest -- shaped modern law,
2:28 · it might be helpful to briefly discuss how the law operated in ancient Rome. In
2:34 · the early imperial era, a case between citizens began at the court of the praetor. (There were,
2:40 · by then, sixteen praetors, two of whom presided over the main civil jurisdictions.) Some cases
2:48 · proceeded no farther. A praetor could declare a plaintiff's suit invalid,
2:53 · or the defendant could admit that it was just. Normally, however, it was the praetor's task to
2:59 · define the case with a statement known as a formula and to appoint a judge.
3:05 · The judge need not be an official, or even a Roman citizen; he could be almost anyone
3:10 · whose arbitration was acceptable to both parties. Plaintiff or defendant could suggest a candidate;
3:17 · alternatively, the praetor could select someone. Sometimes, three or five judges were appointed.
3:24 · An especially prominent case, particularly one that dealt with a disputed inheritance,
3:30 · might be brought before the Court of One Hundred.
3:33 · Whatever the arrangement, the judge or judges set a time and location for the trial. On the
3:39 · appointed day, the plaintiff and the defendant appeared with their advocates. The lawyers orated;
3:45 · witnesses and written testimonies were brought forward. When the dust had settled,
3:50 · the judge (who was usually not a legal expert himself),
3:54 · might consult with one or more men known to be learned in the law. Then he rendered
4:00 · his decision. The state would not enforce the verdict; but if the plaintiff did not
4:05 · receive his due, he was entitled to personally imprison the defendant and sell his property.
· Efficacy and complexity
4:12 · Especially later in Roman history, when more scope was given for appeal,
4:16 · the wheels of justice turned very slowly; Theoderic once ended a suit that had dragged
4:22 · on for 30 years by threatening to execute both lawyers. And in all periods of Roman history,
4:29 · the law favored the rich. Besides having the resources to weather the legal process and
4:35 · the social capital to influence judges, the elite were formally categorized, from the second century
4:41 · onward, as honestiores -- “the better sort,” and were exempt from the worst punishments.
4:48 · The laws themselves, however, were remarkably sophisticated. Nearly a quarter of the Digest,
4:54 · for example, was taken up with the legal intricacies surrounding wills and succession.
5:00 · Contract law was also impressively nuanced. In itself, of course,
5:05 · complexity is no guarantee of quality; but as outlined in Justinian's Corpus,
5:11 · it at least conveys a determination to apply the law to every contingency.
5:16 · We'll explore how Roman law came to be adopted throughout medieval
5:20 · Europe and beyond after a brief word about this video's sponsor.
5:25 · Before Justinian codified Roman law,
· [ad text redacted]
6:19 · Returning to our topic. In the Byzantine Empire, the Corpus Juris Civilis
· Roman law in medieval Europe
6:24 · was condensed and translated into the Greek code known as the Basilica. But in Western Europe,
6:30 · where Justinian's laws had never been widely used, the Corpus was virtually forgotten until
6:36 · the mid-eleventh century, when a manuscript of the Digest surfaced in Italy. Within a few decades,
6:42 · scholars at the newly-organized University of Bologna had begun to study and teach Roman law.
6:49 · Aside from the prestige of its association with the ancient emperors, Roman law had considerable
6:54 · practical appeal. Merchants appreciated its provisions for the enforcement of contracts.
7:00 · The Catholic Church used it to streamline procedure in ecclesiastical courts. And
7:05 · lawyers across Europe, confronted with a system so complex that it could be used
7:10 · to argue almost any position, found Roman law very much to their liking.
7:16 · Roman law came to be accepted through much of medieval Europe. Although local
7:21 · practice continued to vary, Roman law provided a common framework for legal
7:25 · decisions. This was especially important in politically fragmented Germany, where
7:31 · the supreme tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire settled all cases in accordance with Roman law.
7:37 · In England, by contrast, the power of the king and the king's courts had consolidated
7:42 · relatively early. As a result, by the time Roman law swept across Europe,
7:48 · England already had a well-established Common law tradition, which it maintains to this day.
7:54 · On the Continent, Roman law was gradually displaced by national civil codes.
· National civil codes
8:00 · The most influential of these appeared in 1804, when France adopted the Napoleonic Code. Over the
8:06 · course of the nineteenth century, this provided a model for the national codes of the Netherlands,
8:12 · Spain, Italy, Belgium, and much of South America. The newly-unified German Empire
8:19 · continued to use Roman law until 1900, when the German Civil Code was promulgated. This,
8:25 · in turn, was imitated by many countries, including Japan and Brazil.
8:31 · Some countries resisted the tide of codification. Until 1946, Greek law was based on the Hexabiblos,
8:39 · a late Byzantine abridgement of the Code of Justinian. The Ethiopian Law of Kings,
8:44 · also inspired by the Byzantine incarnation of Roman law, remained in effect through 1960.
· Where Roman law is still used
8:52 · Versions of common Roman law -- that is, Roman law shaped by local usage -- are still used in
8:58 · the microstates of San Marino and Andorra. Vatican City follows Catholic canon law,
9:05 · modeled on but independent of Roman law. The law of Scotland, though heavily influenced
9:10 · by English Common law, contains many Roman elements. Roman law also remains in effect in
9:17 · several former Dutch colonies, notably Sri Lanka, Guyana, and (to a lesser degree) South Africa.
9:25 · More generally, all the national civil codes created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
· The influence of Roman law
9:30 · are descended from the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The French code imported many concepts from
9:36 · the Corpus, as refracted through the lens of Natural law. The German code, likewise,
9:42 · can be understood as a systematic rationalization of the Digest. In this sense, the basic elements
9:49 · of Roman law still serve, as they did in medieval Europe, as a common frame of reference.
9:55 · England and many former British colonies follow the Common law tradition, as -- with the partial
10:01 · exception of Louisiana -- does the United States. But even in Common law jurisdictions, the ideal
10:08 · of the law as a secular, rational, all-embracing system comes to us from the Romans. Law is still
10:16 · defined, in the words of the Digest, as the ars boni et aequi -- “the art of integrity and equity.”
10:26 · In the spirit of integrity and equity, you owe it yourself to check out the Toldinstone patreon,
10:31 · where you'll find much more historical content. There's a link in the description. You'll also
10:37 · find links there for my two upcoming group tours, which will visit (respectively) the
10:42 · remote ruins of Eastern Turkey and rather less remote ruins of Rome. And on the off chance
10:49 · you're still listening, why not take a look at my sadly neglected other channels, Scenic Routes to
10:55 · the Past and Toldinstone Footnotes? You probably won't regret it. In any case, thanks for watching.

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
	·	Introduction
0:10	·	Roman law has led a double life. For a thousand years, it grew and developed
0:15	·	with the Roman state. Then, more than half a millennium after the Western
0:20	·	Roman Empire fell, it reemerged as the legal framework of medieval and early modern Europe,
0:26	·	and went on to inspire the civil codes used across two-thirds of the globe today.
	·	The Digest
0:32	·	The pivot that connects these two careers is the Digest, the culmination of the most ambitious
0:38	·	project in the history of Roman law. It took three years to compile -- three years, during which a
0:45	·	commission set up by the Emperor Justinian sifted through more than three million lines of legal
0:51	·	commentary, and condensed them into the definitive compilation of the opinions of the Roman jurists.
0:58	·	The finished work, with 9,123 extracts in 50 books, was proclaimed on December 16, 533.
1:08	·	It was free, the emperor declared, of errors or contradictions; it would be observed for all time.
1:16	·	Roman law had been formalized by the Twelve Tables, which dated to the early
	·	Evolution of Roman law
1:21	·	years of the Roman Republic. From those origins, it had ramified and proliferated,
1:27	·	enriched by the edicts of magistrates, the decrees of emperors, and the treatises of jurists. The
1:34	·	first attempts at codification coincided with the reign of Diocletian, but it was only under
1:40	·	Theodosius II, in the fifth century, that an imperially-sponsored collection of laws appeared.
1:47	·	The codification of Justinian produced the image of Roman law that would be transmitted
1:53	·	to the Middle Ages and beyond. Besides the Digest, Justinian's compilers assembled the Institutes,
2:00	·	an elementary textbook for law students, and the Code, a collection of legislation by emperors from
2:07	·	Hadrian onward. Together with the Novels -- laws issued later in Justinian's reign -- the Digest,
2:15	·	the Institutes, and the Code came to be collectively known as the Corpus Juris Civilis.
	·	How the law worked
2:23	·	Before considering how the Corpus -- and especially the Digest -- shaped modern law,
2:28	·	it might be helpful to briefly discuss how the law operated in ancient Rome. In
2:34	·	the early imperial era, a case between citizens began at the court of the praetor. (There were,
2:40	·	by then, sixteen praetors, two of whom presided over the main civil jurisdictions.) Some cases
2:48	·	proceeded no farther. A praetor could declare a plaintiff's suit invalid,
2:53	·	or the defendant could admit that it was just. Normally, however, it was the praetor's task to
2:59	·	define the case with a statement known as a formula and to appoint a judge.
3:05	·	The judge need not be an official, or even a Roman citizen; he could be almost anyone
3:10	·	whose arbitration was acceptable to both parties. Plaintiff or defendant could suggest a candidate;
3:17	·	alternatively, the praetor could select someone. Sometimes, three or five judges were appointed.
3:24	·	An especially prominent case, particularly one that dealt with a disputed inheritance,
3:30	·	might be brought before the Court of One Hundred.
3:33	·	Whatever the arrangement, the judge or judges set a time and location for the trial. On the
3:39	·	appointed day, the plaintiff and the defendant appeared with their advocates. The lawyers orated;
3:45	·	witnesses and written testimonies were brought forward. When the dust had settled,
3:50	·	the judge (who was usually not a legal expert himself),
3:54	·	might consult with one or more men known to be learned in the law. Then he rendered
4:00	·	his decision. The state would not enforce the verdict; but if the plaintiff did not
4:05	·	receive his due, he was entitled to personally imprison the defendant and sell his property.
	·	Efficacy and complexity
4:12	·	Especially later in Roman history, when more scope was given for appeal,
4:16	·	the wheels of justice turned very slowly; Theoderic once ended a suit that had dragged
4:22	·	on for 30 years by threatening to execute both lawyers. And in all periods of Roman history,
4:29	·	the law favored the rich. Besides having the resources to weather the legal process and
4:35	·	the social capital to influence judges, the elite were formally categorized, from the second century
4:41	·	onward, as honestiores -- “the better sort,” and were exempt from the worst punishments.
4:48	·	The laws themselves, however, were remarkably sophisticated. Nearly a quarter of the Digest,
4:54	·	for example, was taken up with the legal intricacies surrounding wills and succession.
5:00	·	Contract law was also impressively nuanced. In itself, of course,
5:05	·	complexity is no guarantee of quality; but as outlined in Justinian's Corpus,
5:11	·	it at least conveys a determination to apply the law to every contingency.
5:16	·	We'll explore how Roman law came to be adopted throughout medieval
5:20	·	Europe and beyond after a brief word about this video's sponsor.
5:25	·	Before Justinian codified Roman law,
	·	[ad text redacted]
6:19	·	Returning to our topic. In the Byzantine Empire, the Corpus Juris Civilis
	·	Roman law in medieval Europe
6:24	·	was condensed and translated into the Greek code known as the Basilica. But in Western Europe,
6:30	·	where Justinian's laws had never been widely used, the Corpus was virtually forgotten until
6:36	·	the mid-eleventh century, when a manuscript of the Digest surfaced in Italy. Within a few decades,
6:42	·	scholars at the newly-organized University of Bologna had begun to study and teach Roman law.
6:49	·	Aside from the prestige of its association with the ancient emperors, Roman law had considerable
6:54	·	practical appeal. Merchants appreciated its provisions for the enforcement of contracts.
7:00	·	The Catholic Church used it to streamline procedure in ecclesiastical courts. And
7:05	·	lawyers across Europe, confronted with a system so complex that it could be used
7:10	·	to argue almost any position, found Roman law very much to their liking.
7:16	·	Roman law came to be accepted through much of medieval Europe. Although local
7:21	·	practice continued to vary, Roman law provided a common framework for legal
7:25	·	decisions. This was especially important in politically fragmented Germany, where
7:31	·	the supreme tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire settled all cases in accordance with Roman law.
7:37	·	In England, by contrast, the power of the king and the king's courts had consolidated
7:42	·	relatively early. As a result, by the time Roman law swept across Europe,
7:48	·	England already had a well-established Common law tradition, which it maintains to this day.
7:54	·	On the Continent, Roman law was gradually displaced by national civil codes.
	·	National civil codes
8:00	·	The most influential of these appeared in 1804, when France adopted the Napoleonic Code. Over the
8:06	·	course of the nineteenth century, this provided a model for the national codes of the Netherlands,
8:12	·	Spain, Italy, Belgium, and much of South America. The newly-unified German Empire
8:19	·	continued to use Roman law until 1900, when the German Civil Code was promulgated. This,
8:25	·	in turn, was imitated by many countries, including Japan and Brazil.
8:31	·	Some countries resisted the tide of codification. Until 1946, Greek law was based on the Hexabiblos,
8:39	·	a late Byzantine abridgement of the Code of Justinian. The Ethiopian Law of Kings,
8:44	·	also inspired by the Byzantine incarnation of Roman law, remained in effect through 1960.
	·	Where Roman law is still used
8:52	·	Versions of common Roman law -- that is, Roman law shaped by local usage -- are still used in
8:58	·	the microstates of San Marino and Andorra. Vatican City follows Catholic canon law,
9:05	·	modeled on but independent of Roman law. The law of Scotland, though heavily influenced
9:10	·	by English Common law, contains many Roman elements. Roman law also remains in effect in
9:17	·	several former Dutch colonies, notably Sri Lanka, Guyana, and (to a lesser degree) South Africa.
9:25	·	More generally, all the national civil codes created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
	·	The influence of Roman law
9:30	·	are descended from the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The French code imported many concepts from
9:36	·	the Corpus, as refracted through the lens of Natural law. The German code, likewise,
9:42	·	can be understood as a systematic rationalization of the Digest. In this sense, the basic elements
9:49	·	of Roman law still serve, as they did in medieval Europe, as a common frame of reference.
9:55	·	England and many former British colonies follow the Common law tradition, as -- with the partial
10:01	·	exception of Louisiana -- does the United States. But even in Common law jurisdictions, the ideal
10:08	·	of the law as a secular, rational, all-embracing system comes to us from the Romans. Law is still
10:16	·	defined, in the words of the Digest, as the ars boni et aequi -- “the art of integrity and equity.”
10:26	·	In the spirit of integrity and equity, you owe it yourself to check out the Toldinstone patreon,
10:31	·	where you'll find much more historical content. There's a link in the description. You'll also
10:37	·	find links there for my two upcoming group tours, which will visit (respectively) the
10:42	·	remote ruins of Eastern Turkey and rather less remote ruins of Rome. And on the off chance
10:49	·	you're still listening, why not take a look at my sadly neglected other channels, Scenic Routes to
10:55	·	the Past and Toldinstone Footnotes? You probably won't regret it. In any case, thanks for watching.