judge tribunal was authorized to try the case. Judges were
prominent private citizens, though they were rarely trained
in the law. Under the empire this procedure was modifi ed.
Private citizens no longer were asked to act as judges. Instead,
a single magistrate both reviewed and tried each case.
In ius publicum cases any magistrate who had imperium
could preside over a trial. Under the republic ius publicum
cases were initially tried before the centuriate assembly and
then, beginning in the second century b.c.e., before quaestio-
nes perpetuae (“standing jury courts”), composed of juries of
50 to 75 members. Eventually, under the empire, the quaes-
tiones were replaced by trials conducted solely before a single
magistrate.
Since praetorian-appointed judges, as well as plaintiff s
and defendants, generally had little legal knowledge, they
oft en depended upon legal advice. Beginning in the third
century b.c.e. a group of professional jurists, or lawyers, ap-
peared. Th ese jurists off ered their services as advisers and
sometimes advocates at trials and in the draft ing of praeto-
rian edicts and other legal legislation. For these services they
were not paid, though they oft en accepted gift s in exchange
for their help. Around 304 b.c.e. one of the earliest of these
jurists, Gnaeus Flavius, published the rules by which trials
were conducted as well as a calendar of the days that legal
business could be conducted. Prior to Flavius, only the pa-
trician-controlled priesthood had such knowledge, whose
possession now allowed plebians to have greater access to the
Roman legal system.
Rome’s jurists also produced a large body of legal writ-
ing, much of which was detailed analysis of specifi c cases,
oft en from each jurist’s own career. Jurist writing began with
Appius Claudius Caecus, who lived in the fourth and third
centuries b.c.e. and wrote a treatise on property. One of the
most notable legal writers was Quintus Mucius Scaevola (d.
82 b.c.e.), who produced the fi rst standard Roman law work.
In 18 volumes Scaevola collected together Roman law and or-
ganized it by category. To what extent Scaevola’s work was a
complete collection of Roman law is unknown, since it did
not survive the centuries. Even if complete, however, the work
would not have been a legal code because it was not an offi -
cial state-produced document. Indeed, apart from the Twelve
Tables, republican Rome made no attempt to codify its laws.
In imperial times the occasional eff ort was made to
create at least a partial legal code. Th e emperor Hadrian (r.
117–38 c.e.) had the edicts of the praetors edited during the
fi nal years of his reign. Diocletian, who ruled from 284 to 305
c.e., issued an incomplete legal code. At the end of the fourth
century c.e. the emperor Th eodosius I (r. 379–95 c.e.) issued
what was probably to that date the most complete code, which
included the laws passed since the reign of Constantine I (r.
306–37 c.e.) as well as Diocletian’s work. It was not until af-
ter the fall of the western empire that a comprehensive code
was issued by the eastern emperor Justinian I (r. 527–65 c.e.)
in 529 c.e. Th e Codex Justinianus was based on the study of
some 2,000 texts of Roman law.
THE AMERICAS
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Little is known of the legal codes and the practices of law in
the ancient Americas. For North America north of Mexico,
anthropologists rely on comparisons of ancient American
cultures to similar cultures about which more is known. For
ancient South American cultures, almost nothing of their
laws is known; either they are little studied, or scant evidence
is left for archaeologists to fi nd. Of the great ancient civiliza-
tions of Mexico and Central America more is known, though
little is known about the Olmec and other predecessors of the
Maya.
Ancient North Americans formed a variety of cultures,
from hunter-gatherers to city dwellers. Th e legal needs of
those who lived in small hunter-gatherer groups and those
of people who lived in large settled communities would have
been very diff erent. Legal authority usually rested with a se-
nior member of a small group, a shaman, or a group of elders.
For the large communities of eastern North America and of
the Mississippi River region, laws governing social conduct
almost certainly existed. For small hunter-gatherer groups,
theft was probably not a problem because almost everything
was owned by everyone in the community. In villages and
towns, laws governing theft probably existed.
Although the ancient Maya were a literate culture who
left much for archaeologists to discover, little is known about
their laws. Th e laws of modern Mayans are of little help in
understanding ancient laws because modern Mayans have
long been scattered in communities that oft en have commu-
nicated little with others, giving rise to many diff erent laws
that may have little to do with ancient practices. Records of
ancient Mayan laws are rare. Th erefore, historians oft en draw
information about ancient laws from the myths of the Ma-
yans, a somewhat unreliable approach because the laws of the
supernatural world could vary from those of actual Mayan
practice. Some aspects of Mayan law are known, but only
in fragments. Th us a law about marketplaces might survive
from one Mayan city, another about marriage from another
city, and another about theft from another city. Th e ancient
Mayans lived in many diff erent communities, each with its
own laws and legal code. Th e legal codes may have varied
from one place to another and from one time to another, but
it is not known by how much. If one pieces all the hints at laws
together, a general picture of Mayan legal life emerges that
may be altered as new discoveries are made.
Ancient Mayan kings ruled over city-states. Th ey were
responsible not only for making laws but also for leading the
military and their city’s religious life. In legal cases the king
was the last court of appeal; whatever he decided was fi nal.
Every village and town as well as the main city within a king’s
territory had its own courts. Small villages might have had
only one judge, and for most minor problems that judge’s de-
cision would not be appealed. When a decision was appealed,
the case would be taken to a judge in a large town or city.630 laws and legal codes: The Americas