Roman law

legal system of ancient Rome and later the Roman and Byzantine Empire

12 dated entries naming Roman law, drawn from 12 separate years between 55 BCE and 654 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

JSON Wikipedia article Wikidata Q162314

1st century BC

55 BCESummer – Julius Caesar defeats the Usipetes and the Tencteri, two Germanic tribes who have been driven across the Rhine River by the Suebi. He spreads Roman law and order, and makes the whole country as far as the Channel accessible to trade.source

1st century

52In Rome, a law prohibits the execution of old and crippled slaves.source

3rd century

202A Roman law bans female gladiators.source
292The jurist Gregorius, at the court of Emperor Diocletian, produces the Gregorian Code, the first codification of Roman law (approximate date).source
295The jurist Hermogenianus, at the court of Diocletian, produces the Hermogenian Code. This new codification of Roman law complements the Gregorian Code of c. 292.source

5th century

429Emperor Theodosius II starts to reform the Codex Theodosianus in Constantinople. He establishes a committee to codify all Roman laws. All funds raised by Jews to support schools have to be turned over to the state treasury.source
438February 15 – The Codex Theodosianus, a collection of edicts of Roman law, is published.source
497Emperor Anastasius I gives formal recognition to the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great, as his representative (viceroy) in Italy. He sends the imperial standard to Ravenna. Theodoric respects the agreement and allows Roman citizens within the Ostrogothic Kingdom to be subject to Roman law.source

6th century

506February 2 – King Alaric II issues the "Lex Romana Visigothorum" or Breviary of Alaric, an abstract of Roman laws and imperial decrees, compiled by a commission appointed to provide a law code for Alaric's Roman subjects. The "Lex Romana" will be the standard for justice in the Visigothic realm.source
529April 7 – Emperor Justinian I issues the Codex Justinianus (Code of Civil Laws), reformulating Roman law in an effort to control his unruly people (see 532).source
530December 15 – Emperor Justinian I selects a second commission to excerpt and codify the writings of the jurists on Roman law. This becomes the Digest (Pandects).source

7th century

654King Recceswinth draws up the Liber Judiciorum at Toledo, a Visigothic code based on Roman law, that establishes equality between Goths and Hispano-Romans without regard to racial or cultural differences.source