Further Readings
Harrell, D. E., Jr. Pat Robertson.San Francisco: Harper & Row,
1988.
Robertson, Pat. Shout It From the Housetop.Plainfield, N.J.:
Bridge-Logos, 1972.
Roman law
The code of LAW developed in the Roman EMPIRE
(roughly 500 B.C.–A.D. 500) and applied to Europe
through Emperor JUSTINIAN I, GAIUS, and, later, CANON
LAW.
Roman law grew out of unwritten customs over
PROPERTYownership, trade, family practices, and gover-
nance procedures. As the Roman Empire conquered
vast areas of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, this
Roman law was applied to “foreign” peoples within the
empire (Israel, Germany, Britain, etc.). CICEROstated
that the universal law of Rome encoded the reason and
wisdom of the greatest philosophers and could estab-
lish justice throughout the empire. Thus, any Roman
official could maintain JUSTICEby applying Roman law,
whether or not he was wise or just. This doctrine of
the benefits of the “RULE OF LAW” flows into the West-
ern legal TRADITION, ultimately including English com-
mon law and U.S. CONSTITUTIONALlaw. James MADISON,
then, relies on the legal mechanisms of the U.S. CON-
STITUTION to preserve DEMOCRACY and to prevent
TYRANNY(rather than relying on the virtuous character
of the CITIZENs, as in ARISTOTLE).
Roman law protects the individual RIGHTSof Roman
citizens, no matter where they are in the empire. So,
for example, St. Paul (as described in the Bible, Acts
22) reminds a Roman military commander that he
cannot whip a Roman citizen until the latter has been
found guilty by a legal trial. Such universal Roman law
allowed trade and commerce to spread safely across
the empire and to be protected from local custom (and
business practices) by Roman law and the Roman mili-
tary. Such uniform law becomes necessary to all later
commercial empires.
The texts of Roman law were developed by the
jurist Julian under Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117–138).
These included written custom, actual cases, and jud-
ges’ commentaries on those cases (developing “rules”
or principles). So Roman law was always a mixture of
traditional custom, rulers’ decisions, and past practices
(the origin of legal precedent—or judges’ similar cases
according to past decisions). This gave Western law its
CONSERVATIVEquality, favored by Edmund BURKE.
With the decline of the Roman REPUBLIC(Senate)
and rise of ABSOLUTISTauthority of the emperor, Roman
law assumed the nature of royal edicts or dictates.
Such “orders” by one ruler eventually led to the
CATHOLIC pope’s use of encyclicals or authoritative
statements from the Roman bishop in the MIDDLE AGES.
With the fall of the Roman Empire, the code of
Roman law temporarily disintegrated as the customs of
invading tribes supplanted Latin law. In the Orthodox
Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople), the tradi-
tional code continued, increasingly through the BYZAN-
TINE BUREAUCRACY. In Western Europe, Roman law was
finally revived in Italy during the 12th century. Fed by
both Byzantine and ISLAMICremnants of the Roman
law, it was encapsulated in the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
through church canon law.
Roman law demonstrates how a long and varied
tradition can affect political thought.Further Readings
Jolowicz, H. F., and Nicholas, B. Historical Introduction to the
Study of Roman Law,3rd ed. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge
University Press, 1972.
Nicholas, B. Introduction to Roman Law.Oxford, Eng.: Oxford
University Press, 1962.Roman political thought
The political ideas of the ancient Roman Republic and
Roman Empire (approximately 500 B.C. to A.D. 500).
This thousand-year reign of Roman civilization con-
tained a diverse set of political theories, but they are
synthesized in the thought of the Roman lawyer and
statesman CICERO. All of Roman philosophy shows the
influence of CLASSICAL Greek thought (PLATO, ARIS-
TOTLE, stoicism), but Rome adapted these ideas of
human social nature and VIRTUEto the contingencies of
a vast EMPIRE. The result was a sturdy, Roman imperial
virtue—stoic, military, and honorable. The ideal citi-
zen in Rome was the soldier-ruler whose patriotism
and duty was sacrificed for the good of his country.
A hearty, masculine virtue was characteristic of this
Roman model. Such a strong patriotic ideal suited
the growing empire that conquered the Western world
with military discipline and toughness. Cicero
lamented that this traditional Roman virtue was
declining as the commercial wealth and power of the
empire corrupted political leaders. Instead of self-sac-
rifice and duty, young people in Rome were interested
only in money and pleasure. They were becoming soft262 Roman law