The
fomous Roman legist Vicenzo Arangio Ruiz indicates the Roman law’s importance
and effectiveness :
‘ Volendo
o non volendo , sapendo o non sapendo , siamo tutti Romanisti’ It means that;
willingly or unwillingly all of us a Roman legists. At the begining, Roman people
were not the only nation who lived in the Itailian peninsula. There are also
Greeks, Tuscany,Etruscan and Celts. These all had been fascinated by Greek
civilazation and its alphabet which were affected to the Roman culture. In the short
time , Rome became a dominant power in Italy from third to fourth century BC. The
rising of Rome was based on its relationships with neighbouries, alliances, the
process of Roman citizenship and thanks to by wars.
The early Roman state was a republic however
it was not like modern democracy that we have at the present and aristocracy
was the dominant power in Rome. Public officers were electing by adult free
citizens and the assembly that determined by citizens like an Atheninan democracy. There was a senate which
made decision and rules also in the last century BCE the senate had have the
highest authority in Republic of Rome at the age of Caesar and Cicero. The
senate’s members were the chief of their families and they called as ‘poter
familias’ and they had all of rights even death on their families. Furthermore
decisions were making by the Senate which means council of olders. The Roman
assembly was not like a modern assembly that determined at the present and athe
assembly could not create or reform the laws however could just accept or deny
a law is determined by the magistrate.
Rome
had governors who were administered the provinces of Rome and they called as a
consul or preator. Judges was conducting by permanent office-holders. They were
selected for cases and also preators were crucial for development of Roman law.
They were reformated, regulating the
laws.
Morever, Romans had affected by
Greek culture and philosophy. Athenians sent to the embassy which had included
three leading Atheninan philosophers and than many of them migrated to Rome. In
particular, Stoic philosopy would be able to affect to the Roman education
system, Roman legists, Roman culture and its legal system deeply. The Stoicism
had been effected the Roman education, Roman lawyers and the Roman legal
system. Stoic school established by the
cypriot Zeno. His main principle was that everyting in nature could be
explained by in a reason and whole actions ought to be rational and justified. Stoicism
was the most common philosophy in the Roman Empire and it has affected to the
Roman law principles extremely. Almost at the same time Greeks had no
proffesional law system and Rome had the traditional Twelve Tables. The Tables
of laws were based on Solon’s laws and it represented as a cornerstone of Roman
legal system.
Roman
jurists owed extremely to Greek philosophy, grammar and Greek rhetoric. Roman
legal achievement is relevant with the dialectical methods which were
determined by Aristotle and Plato’s ideas.
After that , the Byzantine emperor Justinian combined, commented and
digest the Roman Law.
Preators had have extremely
importance for legislation on the Roman law. Judge was conducting by they and
there was no one could deny his decisions, and
actions. They had authorities ability of
making decisions, laws, and judges. In addition they were rich politicians,
judges represents honorary function for them and they were not lawyer.
As a legal system of the Roman
law was re-regulated as a Corpus Juris Civilis ordered by emperor Justininan in
Constantinapolis(Istanbul). The terms of the law of nations was called as a
‘ius gentium’ and ‘ius civile’ the citizen-law introduced only into to the
Romans. The Roman law being a basis level of Western legal history. As a legal
system, it has been affected the development of law in most of Western
civilazations as well as in parts of the East. Moreover, it was launched to teaching
the Europeans in Bologna University at the 13th century and in the coming
centuries it gained a marvelous effectiveness on the Western’s movements of
thought at the 19th century codification movements. Dominant states in Europe
had been coducted their constitutions based on the Roman law. In particularly, France, Germany,
Italy and Switzerland composed their codes took as an example from Roman law and its
spicific norms. These modern codes would be affect to almost all the Western
legal systems. It has been affected to Turkish legal system too.
Turkish tribes had traditional laws
before they became Muslim. Recognition of Islam lead Turkish people to performed the Islamic law
that called as a Sharia. Roman law showed firs influences on Ottoman legal
system in Tanzimat Era with recognition of French penal code in 1840 that seems
to historian as a codification revolution. In 1923, Republic of Turkey was
founded and that was the western and secular state declaration. As a I
emphasized that France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland constituted their legal
rules which are based on the Roman legal systemgnn example for new Turkish penal and commercial
code. In 1929, German maritime law was formalized by revolutionalist
government. Consequently, Turkey entered to the Western legal system and almost
all Turkish codes are based on the Roman law, basically. Not just only European
states or Turkey ,a great number of states are using the Roman law on their
legal system . As V.Arangio Ruiz : ‘wiilingly or unwillingly all of jurists are
Roman jurists.’’
''S.Ozgur
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