The Romans

[1949]

Brasch DG77 B855

Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books,

As R. H. Barrow states at the beginning of his chapter on Roman law ‘The greatest achievement of the Romans…is without doubt their law’. In the middle of the 5th century BC, the Romans began the tradition of written law by publishing the Twelve Tables (on ivory tablets) which listed all laws and punishments of the time. Another political institution that began in ancient Rome was republicanism or representative democracy, an institution echoed in the founding of modern France and the United States. Many modern Western countries’ law codes are now based on that of the ancient Romans – a massive and far-reaching legacy.