Roman law forms an important part of the intellectual background of many legal systems currently in force in continental Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world. This book traces the historical development of Roman law from the earliest period of Roman history up to and including Justinian's codification in the sixth century AD.

Contents: Introduction; Monarchy and early republic; The constitution of the Roman republic; The Archaic period of Roman law; The later republic; The pre-classical period of Roman law; The principate; The classical period of Roman law; The dominate; The post-classical period of Roman law; The history of Roman law after Justinian; Select bibliography; Index.