History of Roman Law
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course is aimed at illustrating the fundamental institutions of Roman public law by studying the various forms of the ancient Roman constitution (monarchy, republic, principate, dominate) within the context of its traditional historic periodization.
Expected learning outcomes
- Capacity for synthesis and for coordinating the issues of Roman legal history within a dynamic view of the legal phenomena;
- Capacity for making links through recovery of the historical roots of various modern legal institutions;
- Capacity for deepening the acquired knowledge, also through a direct comparison with the main legal and literary sources;
- Learning and using concepts and an appropriate legal language.
- Capacity for making links through recovery of the historical roots of various modern legal institutions;
- Capacity for deepening the acquired knowledge, also through a direct comparison with the main legal and literary sources;
- Learning and using concepts and an appropriate legal language.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The 9 CFU course will be dedicated to the analysis of the sources of law production, constitutional structures, the functioning of state bodies and the rules on criminal repression throughout the course of the legal experience of ancient Rome, from the archaic era to the Justinian era, allowing students to acquire knowledge that is also fundamental for understanding the main dynamics of political life and the development of public law and the fundamental constitutional structures in the contemporary age.
As for the special part, it will focus on aspects of Roman criminal law, in particular on the death penalty and its use for political crimes.
Analytical program:
Historical introduction - The noble state - The patrician/plebeian state - The expansion of Rome - The principate - The absolute monarchy - The sources of law production and the collections of leges and iura - The Justinian Compilation.
Capital punishment in Rome - Methods of capital execution and political or military crimes.
As for the special part, it will focus on aspects of Roman criminal law, in particular on the death penalty and its use for political crimes.
Analytical program:
Historical introduction - The noble state - The patrician/plebeian state - The expansion of Rome - The principate - The absolute monarchy - The sources of law production and the collections of leges and iura - The Justinian Compilation.
Capital punishment in Rome - Methods of capital execution and political or military crimes.
Prerequisites for admission
Institutions of Private Law and Constitutional Law are preparatory to History of Roman law.
Teaching methods
The Course will be held in the following ways:
a) lectures, for the main themes of the constitutional history of ancient Rome, from the forms of government, to the individual magistracies and public bodies, to the legal system and the sources of production of law in the various eras of its history, to the systems of criminal repression;
b) exegetical laboratories, which will consist of the reading (in translation) and interpretation of ancient testimonies on various aspects of the constitution of the republican and imperial age and on individual normative sources; as well as in the viewing and study of the material texts relating to the different parts that make up the Corpus iuris;
c) exercises, which will be agreed upon by the teacher with the students in class and which can vary from power point presentations for groups of students, to simulations of written or oral exams, to discussions of archaeological evidence such as the graffiti of Pompeii, the wax tablets of the Campanian archives of the 1st century BC, etc.
The Course will be enriched with lessons by guest professors from other Universities (University of Verona, University of Pavia).
During the Course, a guided tour of Roman Milan will be arranged during class hours.
And finally, a lesson will be dedicated to the screening of a documentary video on ancient Herculaneum and the legal documents found during the archaeological excavations (the tabulae ceratae).
a) lectures, for the main themes of the constitutional history of ancient Rome, from the forms of government, to the individual magistracies and public bodies, to the legal system and the sources of production of law in the various eras of its history, to the systems of criminal repression;
b) exegetical laboratories, which will consist of the reading (in translation) and interpretation of ancient testimonies on various aspects of the constitution of the republican and imperial age and on individual normative sources; as well as in the viewing and study of the material texts relating to the different parts that make up the Corpus iuris;
c) exercises, which will be agreed upon by the teacher with the students in class and which can vary from power point presentations for groups of students, to simulations of written or oral exams, to discussions of archaeological evidence such as the graffiti of Pompeii, the wax tablets of the Campanian archives of the 1st century BC, etc.
The Course will be enriched with lessons by guest professors from other Universities (University of Verona, University of Pavia).
During the Course, a guided tour of Roman Milan will be arranged during class hours.
And finally, a lesson will be dedicated to the screening of a documentary video on ancient Herculaneum and the legal documents found during the archaeological excavations (the tabulae ceratae).
Teaching Resources
The textbook for the 9 CFU exam is the following:
1a) O. Tellegen-Couperus (a cura di), A Short History of Roman Law, London, Routledge, 1993, or, alternatively,
1b) G. Scherillo - A. Dell'Oro, Manuale di storia del diritto romano, Milan, Cisalpino, reprint 2010 (except for excluded parts).
ATTENTION: the following parts must be excluded from the study of this text:
- pp. 18-48 [§ 2 nr. 4-7; and § 3 nr. 8-9]
- pp. 59-60 [§ 5 nr. 15]
- pp. 231-240 [§ 25 nr. 75-76]
- pp. 312-321 [§ 31 nr. 89-90]
- pp. 397-400 [§ 38 nr. 108]
- pp. 402-408 [§ 38 nr. 110-112]
- pp. 453-469 [§ 43 nr. 126-128]
- pp. 493-496 [§ 48 nr. 140-141]
- pp. 505-512 [§ 50 nr. 144-145]
- pp. 517-523 [§ 51 nr. 147]
- pp. 527-542 [§ 52 nr. 149-159; and § 53 nr. 151-153; and, finally, § 54 nr. 154].
2) N. Donadio, Documentum supplicii and documentum crimesis. The body of the criminal between precept and sanction in the ancient world, Naples 2017, limited to the chapters. 1, 2 and 4..
1a) O. Tellegen-Couperus (a cura di), A Short History of Roman Law, London, Routledge, 1993, or, alternatively,
1b) G. Scherillo - A. Dell'Oro, Manuale di storia del diritto romano, Milan, Cisalpino, reprint 2010 (except for excluded parts).
ATTENTION: the following parts must be excluded from the study of this text:
- pp. 18-48 [§ 2 nr. 4-7; and § 3 nr. 8-9]
- pp. 59-60 [§ 5 nr. 15]
- pp. 231-240 [§ 25 nr. 75-76]
- pp. 312-321 [§ 31 nr. 89-90]
- pp. 397-400 [§ 38 nr. 108]
- pp. 402-408 [§ 38 nr. 110-112]
- pp. 453-469 [§ 43 nr. 126-128]
- pp. 493-496 [§ 48 nr. 140-141]
- pp. 505-512 [§ 50 nr. 144-145]
- pp. 517-523 [§ 51 nr. 147]
- pp. 527-542 [§ 52 nr. 149-159; and § 53 nr. 151-153; and, finally, § 54 nr. 154].
2) N. Donadio, Documentum supplicii and documentum crimesis. The body of the criminal between precept and sanction in the ancient world, Naples 2017, limited to the chapters. 1, 2 and 4..
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will be oral with a grade expressed in thirtieths.
For attending students, who have reached a number of attendances of at least 70%, a written exam is foreseen, which will consist of a test with seven questions. Of these questions, three will be open-ended and four, instead, multiple-choice.
The exam will focus on the manual (Scherillo) and on the special part (Donadio).
The written exam will take place on the last day of the lessons of the Course scheduled for the 9 CFU module and in the relative classroom, and will last 120 mm. (2 hours).
Attending students who do not wish to take the written exam, may at any time express the option for the oral exam, which however will take place according to the calendar of exam sessions published for the academic year 2025-2026 (including December 2025).
For attending students, who have reached a number of attendances of at least 70%, a written exam is foreseen, which will consist of a test with seven questions. Of these questions, three will be open-ended and four, instead, multiple-choice.
The exam will focus on the manual (Scherillo) and on the special part (Donadio).
The written exam will take place on the last day of the lessons of the Course scheduled for the 9 CFU module and in the relative classroom, and will last 120 mm. (2 hours).
Attending students who do not wish to take the written exam, may at any time express the option for the oral exam, which however will take place according to the calendar of exam sessions published for the academic year 2025-2026 (including December 2025).
Professor(s)
Reception:
Thurs 9.00-10.30
dipartimento di diritto privato e storia del diritto - 1 floor