Sources of Roman law.

The oldest surviving Roman sources of law are the laws issued by the Roman kings. One of the most significant laws of the time is the Code of the Twelve Tables. This historical document scientists refer to the middle of V century BC. E. At that time, Roman law was clearly separated from religious dogmas.

In the year 367 BC. E. Civil Cieks issued a law, according to which for the first time such a post as a praetor was introduced . Pretor was elected annually, and the candidates for this position were mostly the Pretorian edicts. A person elected to the praetor's office could, if necessary, supplement sources of law and, at his discretion, recognize outdated laws as inadequate to the contemporary needs of society.

Such an expression as "sources of Roman law" can also be used to refer to sources of knowledge of the law of that time. Such sources include documents of a legal nature, for example, the unification issued by the Emperor Justinian, as well as works by lawyers and especially the works of Roman historians: Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Titus Livia. Also of great interest for science are such sources of Roman law as the works of orators, writers and philosophers of antiquity.

Important sources of study of Roman law are the inscriptions on stone, wood and bronze (the Heraclea table), which have survived to the present day, on the walls of buildings (inscriptions found during the excavations of Pompeii), etc. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, Found inscriptions began to be published in the publication "Corpus inscriptionum latinarum", which combined and systematized the available historical documents. The sources of Roman law were thoroughly studied, and since Roman law formed the basis of the civil law of many European countries, it is only natural that its sources became the object of research for the jurists of that time.

The oldest source of law in Rome is considered to be a set of legal customs and norms. The modern theory of law under the term "legal custom" understands the rule of conduct, which was formed due to its long application and recognized by the state and society as a mandatory rule for all.

The above characteristics are also characteristic of the legal custom in ancient Rome. The well-known Roman jurist Julian spoke of the prescription of a certain custom and the general tacit consent to its application.

Norms of Roman law included the traditions of ancestors; Common practice; The customs of the priests; Customs, which have developed in the practice of magistrates. The customary law that existed in Rome during the imperial period is called the term "consuetude".

In Rome, the customary law for a long period of time played a significant role in the regulation of social relations. Legal customs and norms were recognized by the state and society on a par with laws.

In addition to customary law, in Roman society, laws were used as sources of law in ancient society. Initially, such laws were various legislative acts, which were traditionally adopted by the people's congresses and approved by the Senate.

With the simultaneous coexistence of legal customs and laws in society, the natural question arises of how these sources of Roman law were correlated among themselves.

The inhabitants of ancient Rome did not cause any doubts that any law could be abolished by legal custom. Lawyers of that time also believed that the legal custom applied for a long time could, if necessary, repeal the law.

Sources of Roman private law are carefully studied by modern historians, and their study has long taken the scale of a particular branch of science.