Please read through this translation of the the Twelve Tables, Rome's first written laws (also available in an abridged version here). How impressed are you with this law code? Cite an example of what you consider to be a particularly good law or a particularly bad law from this code. Explain how the law you cite would have tended to either strengthen or weaken the Roman Republic.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
The Twelve Tables
Please read through this translation of the the Twelve Tables, Rome's first written laws (also available in an abridged version here). How impressed are you with this law code? Cite an example of what you consider to be a particularly good law or a particularly bad law from this code. Explain how the law you cite would have tended to either strengthen or weaken the Roman Republic.
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For the first written laws of a republic, they are rather impressive. They seem to be well thought out (for the most part) and detailed. One thing I found interesting was the amount of laws relating to "summons." Clearly that was a major part of Roman history, and it is obvious that they did not take a missing summons lightly. One law I found to be a bit alarming was the first law in table IV--"A dreadfully deformed child shall be quickly killed." I seemed to have forgotten that this was written over 1000 years ago. When reading this in the present day, it is rather shocking to consider a law where a deformed child would be quickly killed just because of its deformities. Also, you have to think about what the Romans considered a "dreadful" deformity. You can imagine the reactions of people when seeing a cleft palate or clubbed foot for the first time--probably not very encouraging. As for the mothers, how did they feel about it? I wonder if they anxiously lived while being pregnant in fear that their child would be killed if something didn't look right. But alas, people thought quite differently back then, so maybe the mothers didn't care at all. If the Roman Republic's goal was to increase the population, maybe they should reconsider this particular law and define "dreadful deformities" in the margins.
ReplyDelete-Lauren Bland