Roman Law Trivia

1. How many centuriae did the Comitia Centuriata consist of?

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: 193

The Comitia was divided into five classes according to financial status. It elected consuls, censors and praetors. By the mid-Republic it had completely lost its military character becoming entirely an elective body.

From Quiz Roman Law of Contracts

Answer: Nexum

'Nexum' was the predecessor to 'mutuum'. In terms of this a person would hand themselves over to the creditor as hostage and as such entitle them to the above if they failed to repay the debt. In 326 BC, however, the 'Lex Poetelia' was passed which ameliorated the punishments. This, in turn, meant that the contract became less popular.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: Yes, but only in the pre-classical period

As a matter of fact, the "pater familias" did have the power of life and death over those under his "potestas" throughout the archaic period and even during the classical period. As the years passed, the power of life and death was restricted only to corporal punishments, and even then, such punishments could only be enacted with a permission from the authorities and avoiding excessive violence.

From Quiz Roman Law

Answer: Theft

The Romans believed in honour, thus, there was a more severe punishment if the person was caught in the act of stealing, as this was seen as a greater insult to the person from whom the object had been stolen.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: 2

Either of the two had the power to veto the other's decision. They looked after the morals of the people and could remove a senator if they considered him to be a menace to the curia. They could also forbid the derivation of a certain religious custom if they thought it was bad for public morals or that it was "anti-Roman".

From Quiz Roman Law of Contracts

Answer: The ship's captain

The owner of the cargo could institute action to recover the losses from the ship's captain, thereby making him immediately liable. On the bright side, the captain could institute action against the owners of all the other cargo in order to distribute the loss proportionately. This law did not apply if the cargo was eventually saved though.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: She became a "filiae loco"

After a "cum manus" marriage took place, the wife became a "filiae loco", assimilated in legal status to her own children (as a "daughter" of her husband). Her father lost his "potestas" over her.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: toga praetexta

They wore a 'toga praetexta' and sat in the 'curule chair'.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: Constitutum Possessorium

All the above are forms of delivery, however 'Constitutum Possessorium' does not require the immediate handing over of the thing to the buyer and so would suit Gaius best.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: "Confarreatio"

The "confarreatio" was an elaborate ceremony used by patricians to celebrate a religious marriage.

From Quiz Roman Law

Answer: His works are some of the only original legal texts that survive

Much of the jurist's work was incorporated into the Institutes of Justinian, where it was changed. However, a copy of the Institutes of Gaius was discovered in Verona in 1816, giving an insight into early Roman Law.

From Quiz Roman Law of Contracts

Answer: 'actio redhibitoria' and 'actio quanti minoris'

The 'actio redhibitoria', known in English as the redhibitory action, allowed the buyer to claim a return of performances by which he/she would return the object of the sale and he/she would receive the purchase price back. This was used where the latent defect was so material he could not use the thing for the purpose it was bought. The 'actio quanti minoris' on the other hand was an action which allowed a reduction in the purchase price, and therefore the purchaser could recover some of the purchase price he/she paid.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: Owner of half the trove. The owner of the land owned the other half.

Different rules applied if the person did not find the treasure trove accidentally. While the current day definition and law regarding treasure troves differ under the different countries and legal systems, the definitions commonly define it as property concealed purposefully and of which the owner can be considered dead.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: Only the consent of both parties

The only requisite needed to obtain a divorce from a "sine manus" union was mutual consent. The relative simplicity of the "sine manus" divorce is one the factors which contributed to its becoming the most popular legal union in later roman periods.

From Quiz Roman Law

Answer: Persons

Most Roman texts followed a logicl pattern. They were divided in such a way that principles were easy to remember.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: coitio

'Coitio' was usually used between rivals in an attempt to outrun their mutual enemies. 'Coempti'o and 'confarreatio' were two types of marriages in Rome, while a 'cest' was a Roman boxing glove.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: A marriage celebrated between a Roman citizen and a Peregrin

"Sine connubium" was the only mechanism for an international couple to become married under the Roman legal system. The problem was that as long as one of the parties lacked the "Ius connubium" such a union would not have civil efects.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: plebeian and curule

The aediles were responsible for city's grain supply, for public morals, they supervised markets and, most importantly, they organized public games. If the games were pleasing, an aedil could candidate for a higher office. Curule aediles could preside over civil disputes involving money and commerce and be escorted by two lictors, while the plebeian aedil could only fine citizens for infractions.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: Rei vindicatio

Which means 'the vindication of a thing'. As the South African legal system is primarily Roman-Dutch common law, this action forms an integral part in its modern day Law of Things.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: No, one of the "de facto" requisites was difference in gender.

One of the "de facto" requisites to be married lay in the "capacitas ad naturam" which implied different sexes. One must take into account that for the Romans the purpose of marriage was plainly reproductive.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: 18

They sometimes had the privilege to vote first, but lost that right once their military function was lost. Publicani, bankers, money lenders and lessees belonged to the equestrian order.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: The right to use, and receive the fruits of, the property of another.

The usufruct includes the 'ius utendi' and the 'ius fruendi', namely the right to use and to the fruits of the property. One could only, generally, acquire a usufruct over a non-consumable thing. If these rights were extended over consumables it would be termed a quasi-usufruct.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: 12 years (F) and 14 years (M)

As a general rule, the person ceased to be an "impuber" at age 12 for the females and age 14 for the males. As an exception, people could be declared "puber" before they had reached the regular age limit, but such a declaration required thorough physical testing and a special legal procedure.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: 202 BC

Gaius Servilius Geminus served as dictator in 202 BC. Sulla's and Caesar's dictatorship is NOT considered legal. In 365 BC Marcus Furius Camillus was appointed dictator.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: ius in rem aliena

'Ius in rem aliena' means a right over the property of another. 'Ius in rem propria' means a right over your own thing/property. An 'actio in rem' is a legal action. 'Res extra commercium' are things which cannot be owned as they are 'things outside of commerce'.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: Adoption

By the process of the "adrogatio", one "pater familias" adopted another "pater" along with all of his "domus". The "adrogatio" was a formal celebration which took place before the "Comitia" and which had to be accompanied by "Pontifex's" approval.

From Quiz Roman Law

Answer: English Law was already well established

The English Common Law was so well established by the time of what can be referred to as the "second life" of Roman Law, that there was no need to implement Roman Law. However, there was some impact on Scottish Law.

From Quiz The Constitutions of the Roman Republic

Answer: a fasces

Fasces were carried by lictors and simbolized a magistrate's power to prescribe death or a physical punishment for the accused.

From Quiz Roman Law of Things

Answer: The person who owns a property subject to a usufruct.

'Nuda proprietas' means bare ownership. As the usufructuary has the right to use and the right to the fruits of a thing, the owner doesn't have all that much left.

From Quiz Roman Law: Family and the person

Answer: His full legal status, with the exception of his marriage and the "corpus" requisite of the possesion

By the figure of the "ius postliminii" the Roman citizen which had been presumed killed or captured in battle, could return to Rome and regain his previous legal status alongside all of his properties. The exceptions were his marriage (given that the usus had been interrupted) and the possesions.

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