Présentation de l’éditeur

This volume brings together the study of the rule of law—the idea that the law should protect citizens from arbitrary exercises of power—and the study of ancient Rome. Its chapters apply insights and approaches drawn from modern legal theory in order to understand the ways in which Romans thought about law and the place of law in their community, the extent to which Roman institutions and political norms protected citizens against the arbitrary exercise of power, and how these ideas and practices changed with Rome’s transition from republic to empire. Part I offers an overview of the modern concept of the rule of law and some of the challenges and possibilities of seeking a rule of law in ancient Rome. Part II focuses on the Roman republic and the relationship between key institutions and the law (including the senate, magistrates, people, and state religion), as well as the attitudes of some prominent late republican individuals towards the rule of law. Part III on the principate and empire explores aspirations for the rule of law in the wake of civil war, the relationship between the emperor and the law, and the nature of the emperor’s role as above the law but guarantor of justice. Together, the chapters reveal a world where elements of the rule of law are recognizable but inconsistently realized and sometimes subordinate to alternative ideals of justice, popular sovereignty, or the personal authority of individuals.

Sommaire

Introduction

Part I Framing Questions

1 The Rule of Law: A Thought Pattern
Michael Sevel

2 In Search of a Roman Rule of Law
Michael Peachin

PART II The Republic

3 Cato and the Rule of Law
Kit Morrell

4 The Populus and the Rule of Law
Amy Russell

5 ‘Rule of Law’ and the Gods in the Late Republic
Catherine Steel

6 The Praetor’s Edict and the Rule of Law
Andrew Pettinger

7 Non Iure Rogata: The People, the Senate, and the Rule of Law in Republican Rome
W Jeffrey Tatum

8 Not in the Last Instance
Andrew M Riggsby

Part III Principate and Empire

9 Aspiration, Accountability, and Abuse: Augustus and the Law in Post-Conflict Rome
Eleanor Cowan

10 Princeps Legibus Solutus Est an Non? Cultures of Legality in the Roman Empire
Tristan S Taylor

11 The Emperor as the Good Judge: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Jurisdiction as a Discourse on Justice and Rule of Law
Kaius Tuori

12 Some Remarks on Certainty in Roman Law
Cosimo Cascione†

End Matter