Roman law

1. The legal system of ancient Rome, which influenced modern Western legal systems.

2. The civil law compiled by the emperor Justinian, which remains a source for modern European law.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Roman law

1. (Law) the system of jurisprudence of ancient Rome, codified under Justinian and forming the basis of many modern legal systems

2. (Law) another term for civil law

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ro′man law′

the system of jurisprudence elaborated by the ancient Romans, a strong and varied influence on the legal systems of many countries.

[1650–60]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Roman law - the legal code of ancient Rome; codified under Justinian; the basis for many modern systems of civil law

jus civile, Justinian code, civil law

addiction - (Roman law) a formal award by a magistrate of a thing or person to another person (as the award of a debtor to his creditor); a surrender to a master; "under Roman law addiction was the justification for slavery"

legal code - a code of laws adopted by a state or nation; "a code of laws"

novate - replace with something new, especially an old obligation by a new one

stipulate - make an oral contract or agreement in the verbal form of question and answer that is necessary to give it legal force

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"In the meanwhile," continued the magistrate, "our codes are in full force, with all their contradictory enactments derived from Gallic customs, Roman laws, and Frank usages; the knowledge of all which, you will agree, is not to be acquired without extended labor; it needs tedious study to acquire this knowledge, and, when acquired, a strong power of brain to retain it."

View in context

With regard to both of these topics, we will see Roman law declaring permissible commercial behavior that was violently denounced by the Christian tradition.

The moral menace of Roman law and the making of commerce: some Dutch evidence

Le droit civil was based on ancient Roman law and French custom, and recorded in a comprehensive Civil Code enacted in Quebec in 1857.

Three legal traditions

It has prevailed for millennia in Europe, developing early in Roman law and spreading from there to the civil law systems that evolved all over the continent and became codified in France, Germany, and elsewhere around the time of Napoleon.

Civil suits

Under Roman law he was crucified at Golgotha as a political rebel and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.

Jesus Christ

Large elements of natural law entered into the common law of England--and therefore into the common law of the United States--over the centuries; and the Roman law, so eminent in the science of jurisprudence, expresses the natural law enunciated by the Roman jurisconsults.

The return of natural law

This phrase, like the entire Constitution, conveys to citizens a right as old as Roman law. Property, or ownership, is actually a "bundle of rights," like a bundle of sticks.

The cost of "saving": you take it, you pay for it

" Horatius was condemned to death for this murder but was acquitted with a token punishment: a beam symbolizing a yoke was erected across the street, and Horatius passed under it with covered head, thus showing submission to Roman law. The beam came to be known as " sister's gibbet.

Horatii, the three

As a well-enshrined Roman law that is also in the Philippine Civil Code says, 'Pater Familias' states that a person should take care of his properties as a good father to his family.

Duterte: Fathering a nation amid war threats

During the time of Jesus, the Jews--largely ignorant of the Roman law and language--usually employed Roman "advocates" in their trials before the Roman courts.

The Advocate

While tracing the history of this principle of Roman law in the subcontinent and establishing that lying in court had been present in Indian courts right from their inauguration in the early 19th century.

The Khosa doctrine targetting perjury