The Roman Law of Inheritance: The Evolution of the Roman Law of Inheritance during the Principate

Traces the evolution of the Roman legal system through a study of the law of inheritance.

• Discusses structures and cases of the Roman law of inheritance
• Shows the evolution of the Roman legal system during the PrincipateIs based on primary sources from the
• Digest and the Institutes of Gaius (reproduced and translated into English)
• Allows the reader to dive into Roman legal thought and Roman legal reasoning
• Presents the most distinctive institutes of the Roman law of inheritance that also appear in non-legal sources, epigraphic evidence, and papyri

Fritz Schulz once famously described the Roman law of inheritance as "labyrinthine" and it is deemed to be the most complex part of the Roman legal system. As Rome evolved from a city-state to an imperial power, the rules of inheritance often changed because of the economic importance of acquisition at death. These changes are reflected in the Corpus iuris civilis, despite the best efforts of the compilers of the Corpus to eliminate variations in the text in order to standardise the existing material for the purposes of their compilation.

The Roman Law of Inheritance gives the reader an insight into the content, structure and evolution of Roman inheritance law and provides an understanding of a fundamental part of Roman legal thought. In addition, it tackles the most difficult features of Roman law of inheritance, including the fideicommissa and the interpretation of wills which are explained against the background of historical stratification.