Erosion of Personality Principle Concerning Roman Ius Civile in the Second-Century Province of Arabia
Erosion of Personality Principle Concerning Roman Ius Civile in the Second-Century Province of Arabia

Author(s): Valéria Terézia Dančiaková
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law, Roman law
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: Roman law; personality principle; Roman Arabia; Babatha Archive; Roman citizenship
Summary/Abstract: Before 212 CE, Roman citizenship was based on the personality principle as other citizenships in the ancient world. This meant that those inhabitants of the Roman Empire who were not Roman citizens could not make valid dispositions that would be protected by Roman ius civile, as the Roman law simply did not apply to them. However, due to the expansion of Roman territory and the emergence of the office of peregrine praetor, as well as the concept of ius gentium, this strict distinction started to disappear, and various institutes of Roman law became available to peregrines as well. One of the first bigger changes in this direction was creating a new model of Roman litigation, the formulary procedure, that allowed access to courts held under Roman magistrates to foreigners (peregrines) as well. This erosion of personality principle and legal syncretism of various legal traditions can be seen in documents from the beginning of the second century CE from the province of Arabia, the Babatha Archive.

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