Early classical private law

Abstract

This chapter concentrates on the jurists and the Roman judicial system during the Julio-Claudian and Flavian eras. The establishment of the Augustan Principate did not at first lead, as might have been expected, to a diminution of juristic independence and influence. Iulius Caesar, during his dictatorship, allegedly contemplated a complete codification of Roman private law; his attempts at legal reform, though never carried out, thus looked mainly to substantive law. Augustus' thoughtful procedural reforms set the stage for classical Roman jurisprudence. The Proculians, like Labeo, normally prefer close objective interpretations of fixed texts, while the Sabinians allow interpretation based on the author's presumed 'subjective' intent. Although classical private law is chiefly a juristic creation, the Roman state did not surrender its power to create new legal norms through statute. The Flavian jurists in general maintained the standard school distinctions, with little major innovation in substance or method.

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