G

Gaius (A.D. 130–80) Roman-law scholar and
jurist

The Institutesof Gaius divided the legal code into three
areas: LAWconcerning (1) persons (according to one’s
status in the state, society, and the family); (2) things
or PROPERTY(such as title ownership, inheritance, con-
tractual obligations, and reputation); and (3) actions
(including legal procedures or court actions). An early
work in ROMAN LAW, it influenced JUSTINIAN’s great code
of Roman law, which ruled the latter Roman Empire
and continues in European law to this day. Appeal to a
universal code of law in an entire nation (superseding
local customary practice), reasoned arguments, case
precedents, and procedural order affected Western
notions of JUSTICE and government throughout the
MEDIEVALand MODERNperiods.

Further Reading
Gaius. The Institutes of Gaius,transl. with an intro. by W. M.
Gordon and O. F. Robinson, with the Latin text of Seckel
and Kuebler. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988.

Gandhi, Mohandas K. (Mahatma) (1869–
1948) Political philosopher and activist, founder of
modern India

Famous for his development of satyagraha,or nonvio-

lent resistance, Gandhi used this method of social

protest to lead the Indian independence movement

and to secure nationhood for modern India from the

British EMPIRE. This use of CIVIL DISOBEDIENCEproved

that armed, violent revolution was not necessary to

change society and has been a model for many other

nonviolent reformers (notably U.S. CIVIL RIGHTSleader

Martin Luther KING, Jr.).

Educated as a lawyer, Gandhi began his social

activism in South Africa. From 1915, he led the

nationalist movement in India, achieving independent

nationhood in 1947. He was revered as the liberator of

India from foreign imperial domination but was

depressed to see the immediate outbreak of domestic

warfare between the Hindu and Muslim populations in

India. A radical Hindu assassinated him in 1948.

Gandhi’s political thought grew out of a reformed

Hindu worldview with elements of animism. The uni-

verse, in this view, is ruled by a supreme intelligence

or truth, which as spirit inhabits all living things. The

material world, including the human body, PROPERTY,

and the STATE, are just the shell of this spiritual

essence. So, goodness consists in renouncing the sen-

sual, worldly sphere and getting in touch with the

“oneness” of the spirit realm. Politics and government,

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