Posted: September 16th, 2017

This can cause chaos among citizens of the same socio-economic status.

or damaged, can be left without the means to make a living or survive. This can cause chaos among citizens of the same socio-economic status.

Plebeians worked hard to

make a living. Any disadvantage would have had a dramatic effect on a plebeian family. Patricians would not have felt the pain of loss, because they could replace the

loss or the damaged property. However, if a patrician suffered damage at the hand of a plebeian, the courts were more accustomed to siding with the wealthy,

not the

commoner. Laws had to be created that would be fair to all. The Roman Republic, as defined and described by the 12 Tables, did not present anything new to legal

theory; but because of the success of Rome, over so many centuries, even during its imperial period, the West would have not only a great example of law, but also the

confidence that that kind of law could govern a very diverse population. This, I believe, is the Roman contribution to U.S. jurisprudence and to the resulting legal

system that we share in today. We cannot, I believe, learn much about law during the imperial period of Rome. Some may contest that that view ignores the

administration of law across a vast empire. Notwithstanding that Rome did administrate law across a vast empire; demographically, Rome toward the end was largely made

of two classes of persons: the wealth landowner and the slave. And slaves outnumbered the wealthy. As the empire decayed, those on the outside penetrated the colossus

that was Roman law, and collapsed what was once all powerful. And yet, there would be one more contribution to law from ancient Rome; but, that contribution was little

more than a cracking open the door to another powerful force, that of faith.

Constantine the Great, in the 4th century A.C.E., legalized Christianity; rather than what

some have credited him with, that of making Christianity the dominant religion. But no matter how Christianity got its boost, it eventually dominated Western

jurisprudence, until its end in the 17th century A.C.E. And if you disagree that Christianity exited the world stage as the determiner of law, consider what happened

from the European Enlightenment until now.

Yes, Christianity did not disappear, but as soon as it was shown that Christianity did

not have perfect knowledge, many of the other “sure” things in Christianity started to lose traction among the intelligent. Human reason became an equal determiner of

what was true. And that brought humankind full circle from its humble beginnings in 100,000 B.C.E. to its new vision in this present year.

Chapter Two Conclusion

There is no mistaking the effect of ancient Greece on the U.S. legal system, despite major derailments between then and now over the idea of “the good life.” If law is

to be good and without flaw, then it must be based on principles that exceed our own. A power above human ambition and motivation must in some way influence those of

lesser ethical ability. One must petition that higher source of wisdom in order to remain detached from the more seemly side of human behavior. Rome’s contribution

helped us see how that class struggle was important, and that the underprivileged class did not have to stay underprivileged, but through the process of challenge and

argument,

it too could have an equal voice. However, we also see from our Roman example what greed and corruption could do to the administration of equity and

fairness. As Rome began to fade, there would emerge another power that made one remember the Greek contribution, that a higher power might help us stay humble and

law-abiding. But as we will see in the next chapter, Christianity —which helped us see that nature’s God could produce a world of lawful, not lawless persons—fell prey

to what eventually destroyed ancient Rome: greed and corruption.