Flashcards: Roman law

The quaestor sacri palatii (Greek: κοιαίστωρ/κυαίστωρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ παλατίου, usually simply ὁ κοιαίστωρ/κυαίστωρ), in English Quaestor of the Sacred Palace, was the senior legal authority in the late Roman Empire and early Byzantium, responsible for drafting laws.

An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism.

Proscription (Latin: proscriptio) is, in current usage, a "decree of condemnation to death or banishment" (OED) and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment.

Julius Paulus Prudentissimus (Greek: Ἰούλιος Παῦλος; fl. 2nd century and 3rd century AD) was one of the most influential and distinguished Roman jurists.

The Roman Assemblies were institutions in ancient Rome.

Irnerius (c. 1050 – after 1125), sometimes referred to as lucerna juris ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of Medieval Roman Law.

Jurisprudence is the science, study, and theory of law.

Peregrinus was the term used during the early Roman empire, from 30 BC to 212 AD, to denote a free provincial subject of the Empire who was not a Roman citizen.

Praetor (Classical Latin: [ˈprajtoːr]) was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army (in the field or, less often, before the army had been mustered); or, an elected magistratus (magistrate), assigned various duties (which varied at different periods in Rome's history).

According to Roman tradition, the Law of the Twelve Tables (Latin: Leges Duodecim Tabularum or Duodecim Tabulae) was the legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law.

The Catiline Orations, or Catilinarian Orations, were speeches given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, the consul of Rome to expose to the Roman Senate the plot to overthrow the Roman government, purportedly led by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) and his allies.

Social class in ancient Rome was hierarchical, but there were multiple and overlapping social hierarchies, and an individual's relative position in one might be higher or lower than in another.

In legal terminology, a rescript is a document that is issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response (it literally means 'written back') to a specific demand made by its addressee.

An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot.

Clientelism is the exchange of goods and services for political support, often involving an implicit or explicit quid-pro-quo.

Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy.

An emphyteusis is a real right (right in rem), susceptible of assignment and of descent, charged on productive real estate, the right being coupled with the enjoyment of the property on condition of taking care of the estate and paying taxes, and sometimes the payment of a small rent.

The Digest, also known as the Pandects (Latin: Digesta seu Pandectae, adapted from Ancient Greek πανδέκτης pandektes, "all-containing"), is a name given to a compendium or digest of Roman law compiled by order of the emperor Justinian I in the 6th century (AD 530-533).

A freedman or freedwoman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means.

The Centuriate Assembly (Latin: comitia centuriata) of the Roman Republic was one of the three voting assemblies in the Roman constitution.

The Constitutio Antoniniana (Latin for: "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus") (also called the Edict of Caracalla or the Antonine Constitution) was an edict issued in 212, by the Roman Emperor Caracalla declaring that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given theoretical Roman citizenship and that all free women in the Empire were to be given the same rights as Roman women.

Superficies is a Latin legal term referring to anything which is placed upon and attached to the ground, and most commonly refers to a building erected on land owned by another.

The Codex Theodosianus (Eng. Theodosian Code) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312.

Andrea Alciato (8 May 1492 – 12 January 1550), commonly known as Alciati (Andreas Alciatus), was an Italian jurist and writer.

Senatus consultum ultimum ("Final decree of the Senate" or Final Act, often abbreviated SCU), more properly senatus consultum de re publica defendenda ("Decree of the Senate about defending the Republic") is the modern term (based on Caesar's wording at Bell. Civ. 1.5) given to a decree of the Roman Senate during the late Roman Republic passed in times of emergency.

The Lex Scantinia (less often Scatinia) is a poorly documented ancient Roman law that penalized a sex crime (stuprum) against a freeborn male minor (ingenuus or praetextatus).

An amicus curiae (literally, friend of the court; plural, amici curiae) is someone who is not a party to a case and is not solicited by a party, but who assists a court by offering information that bears on the case.

Pro Caelio is a speech given on April 4, 56 BC, by the famed Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero in defence of Marcus Caelius Rufus, who had once been Cicero's student but more recently was a political rival.

Treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the heirs undiscoverable.

The Pro Tito Annio Milone ad iudicem oratio (Pro Milone) is a speech made by Marcus Tullius Cicero on behalf of his friend Titus Annius Milo.

François Douaren (or le Douaren) (also sometimes spelled Duaren; Latin: Franciscus Duarenus) (1509, near Saint-Brieuc – 1559, Bourges) was a French jurist and professor of law at the University of Bourges.

Negotiorum gestio (Latin for "management of business") is a form of spontaneous voluntary agency in which an intervenor or intermeddler, the gestor, acts on behalf and for the benefit of a principal (dominus negotii), but without the latter's prior consent.

Radulphus de Canaberiis (12?-1297) was a French noblemen, teacher of Roman law in Orleans.

In Roman law, the Latin adjective privatus makes a legal distinction between that which is "private" and that which is publicus, "public" in the sense of pertaining to the Roman people (populus Romanus).

Pro Cluentio is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor.

In Verrem ("Against Verres") is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily.

The fiscus Iudaicus (Latin for "Jewish tax") or fiscus Judaicus was a tax-collecting agency instituted to collect the tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70.

The Pro Aulo Caecina is a speech made by Marcus Tullius Cicero on behalf of his friend Aulus Caecina.

Cicero's oration Pro Archia Poeta is the published literary form of his defense of Aulus Licinius Archias, a poet accused of not being a Roman citizen.

Pro Tullio (Latin for "On behalf of Tullius") is a partially preserved speech delivered by the Roman orator Cicero in 72 or 71 BC.

In the constitution of ancient Rome, prorogatio was the extension of a commander's imperium beyond the one-year term of his magistracy, usually that of consul or praetor.

Hugues Doneau, commonly referred also by the Latin form Hugo Donellus (23 December 1527, Chalon-sur-Saône – 4 May 1591, Altdorf bei Nürnberg), was a French law professor and one of the leading representatives of French legal humanism (mos Gallicus).

A curia, plural curiae, is an assembly, council, or court, in which public, official, or religious issues are discussed and decided.

The legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic.

In Roman law, status describes a person's legal status.

In this speech Cicero defends Ligarius, who is accused of crimes in Africa.

Tutela was the ancient Roman concept of "guardianship", conceived of as a goddess in the Imperial period, and from the earliest period as a functional role that various tutelary deities might play, particularly Juno.