Introduction to Roman private law and the delicts
The architecture of Roman private law and the four principal delicts of classical jurisprudence.
Overview
This note introduces the Roman law of delicts, one of the two principal divisions of Roman private law concerned with obligations arising ex delicto—from wrongful acts—as opposed to those arising ex contractu. The study of delicts forms a cornerstone of the Oxford Mods curriculum in Roman law, providing both substantive doctrinal knowledge and training in the interpretative techniques required to work with primary sources in translation: the Institutes of Justinian (AD 533) and the Digest (or Pandects), compiled under the same emperor's direction.
Roman delict corresponds loosely to the modern common-law tort, though important conceptual differences persist. Unlike modern tort law, which is dominated by a generalised duty of care and the principle of negligence, Roman delict comprised a finite, closed list of named wrongs. The four principal delicts examined in this module are furtum (theft), iniuria (outrage or affront to dignity), damnum iniuria datum (damage wrongfully caused, chiefly governed by the lex Aquilia), and rapina (robbery with violence, treated as an aggravated form of furtum).
Each delict had its own elements, defences, and remedies. The remedies were typically penal in character: a multiple of the loss (poena) rather than simple restitution or compensation. The victim instituted a actio (action) for a fixed penalty or for an amount assessed by the judge (iudex). These actions were in personam—against the wrongdoer personally—and the sums recovered often exceeded the plaintiff's actual loss, reflecting the retributive and deterrent functions of the Roman system.
Understanding delict requires facility with the Roman institutional scheme. Gaius, the second-century jurist whose Institutes influenced Justinian's codification, divided all private law into persons, things, and actions. Delict belongs to the law of obligations, itself a subdivision of the law of things (res). This tripartite structure will recur throughout your studies and is essential context for situating the sources you encounter.
Your principal objective in Week 1 is to acquire a working knowledge of the architecture of Roman private law, the nature and purpose of delictual liability, and the interpretative conventions governing the use of the Institutes and Digest. Mastery of technical Latin vocabulary, though not fluency in the language, is assumed and will grow over the term.
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