IUS AND LEX. CONSTANCY AS LEGAL PRINCIPLE IN ROMAN LAW
IUS AND LEX. CONSTANCY AS LEGAL PRINCIPLE IN ROMAN LAW
Author(s): Federica De IuliisSubject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law, Civil Law, Roman law
Published by: Софийски университет »Св. Климент Охридски«
Keywords: Constantia; ethics and law; interpretatio prudentium; late antique imperial legislation.
Summary/Abstract: The Author investigates the function of ‘steadfastness’, corresponding to the Latin word constantia, in the Roman legal system, analysing its semantic and normative evolution from its republican origins to the late antique constitutions. Through an examination of literary and jurisprudential sources, it highlights how constantia, from an ethical-political virtue of the mos maiorum, gradually transformed into a normative criterion in the interpretatio prudentium, influencing contractual and procedural law. In the Dominate, constancy took on technical-legal and political-ideological significance, becoming a fundamental principle of institutional stability and decision-making, of legal certainty, and consistency in imperial action.
Journal: IUS ROMANUM
- Issue Year: 2025
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 243-268
- Page Count: 26
- Language: English
