Document 5-3: The Law of the Twelve Tables (449 B.C.E.)

An Effort to Resolve Social Conflict

The Law of the Twelve Tables (449 B.C.E.)

It is not a coincidence that the same centuries that saw the Roman conquest of Italy also saw the Struggle of the Orders, the plebeians’ long and hard-fought battle for greater legal and political equality. In some ways, the history of Rome is the history of Roman social and political adaptation to the pressures of expansion. The codification and publication of Roman law in the form of The Law of the Twelve Tables in 449 B.C.E. was one of the first, and perhaps most important, patrician concessions to the new realities created by Roman conquest. As you read the excerpts below, pay particular attention to the abuses the laws sought to prevent. What conflicts in Roman society did the laws seek to remedy?

TABLE I. Concerning the Summons to Court

Law I

When anyone summons another before the tribunal of a judge, the latter must, without hesitation, immediately appear.

Law II

If, after having been summoned, he does not appear, or refuses to come before the tribunal of the judge, let the party who summoned him call upon any citizens who are present to bear witness. Then let him seize his reluctant adversary; so that he may be brought into court, as a captive, by apparent force.

Law III

When anyone who has been summoned to court is guilty of evasion, or attempts to flee, let him be arrested by the plaintiff.

Law IV

If bodily infirmity or advanced age should prevent the party summoned to court from appearing, let him who summoned him furnish him with an animal, as a means of transport. If he is unwilling to accept it, the plaintiff cannot legally be compelled to provide the defendant with a vehicle constructed of boards, or a covered litter.

Law V

If he who is summoned has either a sponsor or a defender, let him be dismissed, and his representative can take his place in court.

Law VI

The defender, or the surety of a wealthy man, must himself be rich; but anyone who desires to do so can come to the assistance of a person who is poor, and occupy his place.

Law VII

When litigants wish to settle their dispute among themselves, even while they are on their way to appear before the Prætor,1 they shall have the right to make peace; and whatever agreement they enter into, it shall be considered just, and shall be confirmed.

Law VIII

If the plaintiff and defendant do not settle their dispute, as above mentioned, let them state their cases either in the Comitium2 or the Forum, by making a brief statement in the presence of the judge, between the rising of the sun and noon; and, both of them being present, let them speak so that each party may hear.

Law IX

In the afternoon, let the judge grant the right to bring the action, and render his decision in the presence of the plaintiff and the defendant.

Law X

The setting of the sun shall be the extreme limit of time within which a judge must render his decision. . . .

TABLE IX. Concerning Public Law

Law I

No privileges, or statutes, shall be enacted in favor of private persons, to the injury of others contrary to the law common to all citizens, and which individuals, no matter of what rank, have a right to make use of.

Law II

The same rights shall be conferred upon, and the same laws shall be considered to have been enacted for all the people residing in and beyond Latium,3 that have been enacted for good and steadfast Roman citizens.

Law III

When a judge, or an arbiter appointed to hear a case, accepts money, or other gifts, for the purpose of influencing his decision, he shall suffer the penalty of death.

Law IV

No decision with reference to the life or liberty of a Roman citizen shall be rendered except by the vote of the Greater Comitia.4

Law V

Public accusers in capital cases shall be appointed by the people.

Law VI

If anyone should cause nocturnal assemblies in the City, he shall be put to death.

Law VII

If anyone should stir up war against his country, or delivers a Roman citizen into the hands of the enemy, he shall be punished with death.

From S. P. Scott, ed., The Civil Law, vol. 1 (Cincinnati: The Central Trust Company, 1932), pp. 57–58, 73–74.

READING QUESTIONS

  1. Question

    yadjxePqjmMcvtAWtUt9y2ktVVDOPeUytvHRdlU1QQ9UMNLNs6mlX1fnHz6kipixXuUb4uRtDBSEpV68+nsyns+SqE0h1GW0WheVF+paCtpY0RLG7z/nLPJSzU8=
  2. Question

    r1+AQOTFiHEPVj4cvLrAr7FpXTZqRz/wTeyj47+B6duaSVc8tQ2gE0rmuYSyR6cBE3OOloWdOMl9Cng82BqZZ2BCUO4+J1mN2jbAuo6B3t0r6TgMB6f2J5OTJNM9Juq3eYCvkJpGvmrLftzhJFuruM2SZQ5QkDQflUzN1IDSX+dfpSH8FEo/Nah5vEPqoo8q7YoXjEvKgFYdLirmONi8GbVoSjIpOlGg9kpu/YuJhg0=
  3. Question

    cy5dwdQMiSp+89wtv/C2SiThE0Mph3jnlZM4pKiY+HnqLnxYEcR4p1+ezxXrl04rCdKuN/fg0JjDxY2VacJVrUnoMXNcM1gx1V/mRKrdMxFU43mpAqzsnroH1xaukDltOGIlwdofjiCckHcNggPpJcl7Tlv5WISA8PqK1RcS8HIjyFt83K11h0lWN/CGlVTphx8bZdb5GLFXkyQT7AtnOgNFD9OZo1G4XrsuTzgpskqUXymBzSomYwLX3NmvQ4DqETibN71LroM=