Embedded Files
Part 1: Video Notes
Directions: Watch the "Twelve Tables" video to help you answer the questions on your worksheet. Add more facts from the class discussion to the right.
Part 2: All Equal Under the Law
Directions: Read the summary and laws to help you answer the questions on your worksheet.
The new Roman Republic wanted to make sure that every citizen knew the laws. So they engraved the laws on tablets of metal and put them in the Forum in Rome for everyone to read. These laws were called the Twelve Tables because there were twelve different sections. These laws were about crime and property and family matters like marriage and inheritance. The laws, like all laws, were adjusted over time to reflect the times. But the main laws, whatever they were, were on display at the Forum throughout the entire time Rome was a Republic.
Beginning in 451 BCE, the Twelve Tables were on display so that all Romans could see the laws every citizen was to live by.
In the latter part of the Roman Republic, before Rome became an Empire, one of the reasons that some leaders in Rome were so upset with Julius Caesar, a former consul and popular general who led a legion into Rome and set himself up as dictator for life, was because Caesar simply ignored the law. He didn't try to buy his way, or finagle his way, or lie his way out of trouble. He simply behaved as if the laws did not apply to him. That's why the leaders in Rome were shocked at his behavior, and why they decided to assassinated him. They did not want their laws to become meaningless. They certainly did not want a leader who believed he was above the law. Rome was very proud of its laws, and proud that the laws applied equally to all Roman citizens, be they the richest or poorest or most powerful of all the people in Rome. The law was the law.
The ancient Romans were willing to submit to the rule of law far more than the quarrelsome Greeks. This discipline and adherence to Roman law produced magnificent soldiers, which helped Rome to expand and ultimately to become great. Many law codes today are based in part on the Roman law codes. Many of their laws would not fit our society today, but then some of their laws did not fit their society as Rome grew. Laws were adjusted under the Republic to fit the changing social climate of the population.
Sample Laws
Below are some of the laws in the Twelve Tables. These laws have been rewritten in modern English and simplified, but their meaning is unchanged. These laws tell us about life in ancient Rome under the Republic.
Table 1
All persons summoned before the magistrates must attend. If one party fails to attend, the magistrate shall pronounce judgement in favor of the present party.
Table 2
Someone whose witness has failed to appear may summon him by loud calls before his house every third day.
Table 3
Someone who has incurred a debt will have 30 days to pay it. If he fails to pay, a creditor can keep him at his house in chains (stipulations follow for feeding the debtor).
Table 4
If a father sells his son three times, the son shall be free. A child born 10 months after his father’s death cannot claim an inheritance.
Table 5
Women should remain in guardianship even when they have attained their age of majority.
Table 6
Formal declarations of bonds and selling of properties are legally binding.
Table 7
Should a tree on a neighbor's farm lean over your farm, you may remove that tree. You may pick up fruit from your tree that has fallen on another’s land.
Table 8
If one is killed while committing theft in the night, he is justly killed. Any person found guilty of giving false witness shall be hurled from the Tarpeian Rock.
Table 9
Capital punishment for judges who have been bribed. Capital punishment for treason. Putting any man to death without a conviction, whoever he might be, is illegal.
Table 10
No one shall bury or burn a corpse in the city.
Table 11
Marriages should not take place between plebeians and patricians.
Table 12
Whatever the people had last ordained (approved of) will be held as binding by law.
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