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State, Law and Religion: Pagan Rome by Alan Watson (Hardcover, 1992)

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This book analyzes the interaction of law and religion in ancient Rome. As such, it offers a major new perspective on the nature and development of Roman law in the early republic and empire before Christianity was recognized and encouraged by Constantine. At the heart of the book is the apparent paradox that Roman private law is remarkably secular even though, until the late second century B.C. the Romans were regarded (and regarded themeselves) as the most religious people in the world. Adding to the paradox was the fact that the interpretation of private law, which dealt with relations between private citizens, lay in the hands of the College of Pontiffs, an advisory body of priests. Alan Watson traces the roots of the paradox - and the way in which Roman law ultimately developed - to the conflict between patricians and plebeians that occurred in the mid-5th century B.C. When the plebeians demanded equality of all citizens before the law, the patricians prepared in response the Twelve Tables , a law code that included only matters considered appropriate from plebeians. Public law, which dealt with public officials and the governance of the state, was totally excluded from the code, thus preserving gross inequalities between the classes of Roman citizens. Religious law, deemed to be the preserve of patrician priests, was also excluded. As Watson notes, giving a monopoly of legal interpretation to the College of Pontiffs was a shrewd moe to maintain patrician advantages; however, a fundamental consequence was that modes of legal reasoning appropriate for judgments in sacred law were carried over to private law, where they were often less appropriate. Such reasoning, Watson contends, persists even in modern legal system. After sketching the tenets of Roman religion and the content of the Twelve Tables , Watson proceeds to such matters as formalism in religion and law, religion and property and state religion versus alien religion. In his concluding chapter, he compares the law that emerged after the adoption of the Twelve Tables with the law that reportedly existed under the early Roman kings.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
University of Georgia Press
ISBN-13
9780820313870
eBay Product ID (ePID)
96021029

Product Key Features

Book Title
State, Law and Religion: Pagan Rome
Author
Alan Watson
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Law, Religious History, History
Publication Year
1992
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
192 Pages

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Alan Watson
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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State, Law and Religion: Pagan Rome by Alan Watson (Hardcover, 1992)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Books

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