Roman Law with Professor Spitzer was a lot of fun, except for the early morning classes and the somewhat non-participatory behaviour of most classmates...
Spitzer's course (and the things I read up online during it) added to my understanding of the civil law tradition. And it certainly revived my interest in the ancient world.
I noticed that I was the only LLM in that class. And from the little that I hear about what other Pakistani LLMs in the US were taking, I supposed may have been the only one studying Roman Law. This, in a strange way, made me feel greateful to the eclectic historian Dr. Syed Nomanul Haq whose course on "World Civilization" I had taken almost eight years before. Had he not introduced me to the historical mode of thinking, I would probably have never gotten down to taking Roman Law.
This course helped me to see the history of law everywhere in the world as something deeply connected. Just a law cannot be understood and hould not be taught in completion isolation from its social context, the various legal traditions of world should not be seen as completely isolated from each other. They are a all a part of our common human heritage.
Two quarters after taking Roman Law, as I began reading Professor Lombardi's book "State law as Islamic law in Egypt", and his recap of the intellectual labours of Maulana Abdur Razzaq al-Sanhuri, I suddenly realized that I would not have been able to grasp this significant episode in Islamic history without having some knowledge of the way jurists in Germany in the 19th century had developed Roman law....
I noticed that I was the only LLM in that class. And from the little that I hear about what other Pakistani LLMs in the US were taking, I supposed may have been the only one studying Roman Law. This, in a strange way, made me feel greateful to the eclectic historian Dr. Syed Nomanul Haq whose course on "World Civilization" I had taken almost eight years before. Had he not introduced me to the historical mode of thinking, I would probably have never gotten down to taking Roman Law.
This course helped me to see the history of law everywhere in the world as something deeply connected. Just a law cannot be understood and hould not be taught in completion isolation from its social context, the various legal traditions of world should not be seen as completely isolated from each other. They are a all a part of our common human heritage.
Two quarters after taking Roman Law, as I began reading Professor Lombardi's book "State law as Islamic law in Egypt", and his recap of the intellectual labours of Maulana Abdur Razzaq al-Sanhuri, I suddenly realized that I would not have been able to grasp this significant episode in Islamic history without having some knowledge of the way jurists in Germany in the 19th century had developed Roman law....
Anyway, let me share Professor Spitzer's course outline...
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ROMAN LAW Professor:
Hugh Spitzer
LAW B555 Fall Quarter, 2013
ROMAN LAW: COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SYLLABUS
Office: 421 Gates Hall
-- Phone: (206) 685-1635
Email: spith@uw.edu
Class Times: Mon. & Wed. 9:05-10:20 a.m.
Office Hours: Mon.
& Wed. 10:30 to noon, or by
appointment
This course provides a basic
introduction to Roman law from pre‑classical times to the compilation of
Justinian’s Code at the beginning of the Byzantine Empire (450 BCE to 565 CE). The purpose of the course is: (1) to give
students some background in the technical aspects of one of the world’s
greatest legal systems, one which has had a profound impact on Anglo‑American
common law and which lives today in civil code countries (i.e., a majority of the countries of the world); and (2) to focus
on some comparisons between classical Roman law and modern American law to gain
an understanding of how separate legal cultures approach similar problems.
The course will cover the
constitutional and historical background of Roman law as it changed over the
course of one thousand years: the law of
persons (marriage, families and slavery); the law of property and inheritance;
the law of contracts; the law of crimes and torts; and constitutional public
law. The focus will be on the “classical” period of Roman law, roughly 100 BCE
to 200 CE).
Knowledge of Latin is not necessary.
The schedule below may be revised. There
are 20 classes listed, but we often slow down somewhat when working through the
materials that students find the most fascinating, like the law on personal and
family status, and marriage, or the law on contracts.
Reading assignments are from Barry
Nicholas, An Introduction to Roman Law, and the Additional Readings
that can be purchased by students at the University Bookstore and which are
also available on reserve in the Gallagher Law Library. John Crook’s Law and Life in Rome is also
on reserve in the Gallagher Law Library.
The indicated readings in Crook are not required, but they provide
additional (and often lively) information for the inquiring mind.
Several short problems are included
in the additional readings for class discussion during the quarter.
The following books
are particularly useful in providing background reading and information about
Roman history and law: H. F. Jolowicz, Historical
Introduction to the Study of Roman Law (3rd ed., 1972); Michael Grant, History
of Rome; Gaius, The Institutes (a 2nd century textbook translated by
Zulueta); Wolfgang Kunkel, An Introduction to Roman Legal and Constitutional
History (2nd ed. Kelly translation of 6th ed., 1973), and Andrew Borkowski,
Textbook on Roman Law (4th ed. 2010 or 3rd ed.2005). These books are all on reserve in the
Gallagher Law Library.
Final
grades will be calculated on a 100-point scale. 85 points will be based on a final exam given
at the end of the quarter, and 15 points will be based on class participation.
I reserve the right to adjust the allocation of points between the final exam,
class participation, any additional assignments, and other evaluation methods. If
the class has fewer than 16 students, we will not be subject to the UW Law School’s
mandatory grading curve.
The
exam will include some questions that call for short essays, and a few hypothetical story problems to be
analyzed. The exam is closed. You may
use a computer to write the exam. (In fact, you are encouraged to do so because
then the answers will be legible!) If you use a computer, you must use Exam4
software, in “CLOSED MODE.”
To request academic
accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disability Resources for
Students, Schmitz Hall, Room 448 at (206)543-8924. If you have a letter from Disability
Resources, please present the letter to me so that we can discuss what
accommodations you might need to succeed in and enjoy this course.
SCHEDULE
|
||||
Class*
|
Subject Matter
|
Reading in Nicholas
|
Items in “Additional Readings”
|
Optional
Reading in Crook
|
1
|
Introduction
Historical Overview
|
1 ‑ 14
45 ‑ 53
|
1 – 4
|
|
2
|
Constitutional Order, Officials and Civil Law in the Republic
|
14 ‑ 18
|
5 – 6
|
7 ‑ 23
|
3
|
Other Sources of Law in the Republic and Early Empire
|
19 ‑ 38
|
7 – 11
|
68 ‑ 97
|
4
|
Constitutional Order and Sources of Law in the Later Empire
|
38 ‑ 45
|
12 – 14
|
*****
|
5 & 6
|
Law of Persons: Status,
Citizenship and Slavery
|
60 ‑ 76
|
15
Problem #1
|
36 ‑ 67
|
7 & 8
|
Law of Persons: Patriarchal
Power and Guardianships
|
76 ‑ 80,
90 ‑ 97
|
*****
|
107 ‑ 118
|
9 & 10
|
Law of Persons: Marriage
|
80 ‑ 90
|
16
|
98 ‑ 106
|
11 & 12
|
Property
|
98 ‑ 157
|
17 ‑ 18
Problem #2
|
155 ‑ 162
|
13 & 14
|
Inheritance
|
234 ‑ 270
|
19 ‑ 22
Problem #3
|
118 ‑ 132
|
15 & 16
|
Obligations: Contracts
|
158 ‑ 207
227 ‑ 233
|
23
Problem #4
|
206 ‑ 249
|
17
|
Obligations: Delicts
|
207 ‑ 227
|
24
|
250 ‑ 255
|
18
|
Crimes
|
*****
|
25
|
268 ‑ 278
|
19
|
Municipal Law
|
*****
|
26 – 28
|
259 ‑ 264
|
20
|
Review
|
*****
|
*****
|
*****
|
* Readings for each class subject to
adjustment, as is the pace of working through the materials.
