These two paintings deal with Roman court cases. Table I covers the proceedings between the defendant and the plaintiff, with reactions to possible situations such as age or illness preventing the defendant from appearing, and then transportation must be arranged to assist them. [14] It also deals with: Roman law may well be the most enduring and effective contribution to Roman heritage, as it has influenced many modern legal traditions. The Twelve Tablets were important because they embodied the characteristics that would later define Roman law: they were specific, meaning that there were fewer possibilities for magistrates to apply them arbitrarily; they are public and guarantee equal access to justice for all citizens; And they were rational, meaning they were applied more fairly and systematically, thus guaranteeing citizens` right to fair treatment by judges. The Twelve Tablets were not a finished product, but they were an important step towards what would become of Roman law. This is the traditional view of events, although, perhaps more realistically, the composition of the paintings was an attempt by the elite to govern themselves better and prevent abuses within their own social group. In any case, the result was a list of written laws (legibus scribundis) presented on ten tables, and two more were added the following year to bring the total to twelve. Subsequently, laws became laws, that is, they were promulgated only after a decision of a legislative body and were no longer based on mere custom and tradition. Around 450 BC. AD, the first decemviri (decemvirate, head of the “Ten Men”) are responsible for creating the first ten tablets. According to Livy, they sent an embassy to Greece to study the legislative system of Athens, known as the Solonian Constitution, but also to inquire about the legislation of other Greek cities.
[7] [8] Some scholars deny that the Romans imitated the Greeks in this regard[9] or suspect that they only visited Greek cities in southern Italy and did not travel as far as Greece. [10] In 450 BC. AD, the second decemviri began work on the last two tables. Table II shows the amount of each party`s financial commitment according to the source of the dispute, what to do in case of interference with the judge and who must provide evidence. [14] The laws dealing with the Twelve Tables were a way of publicly displaying the rights that every citizen had in the public and private spheres. These twelve tablets showed what was once considered in Roman society as unwritten laws. The public display of the copper tablets allowed for a more balanced society between the Roman patricians, who were educated and understood the laws of legal relations, and the Roman plebeians, who had little education or experience in understanding the law. By revealing to the public the unwritten rules of society, the Twelve Tablets offered the plebeians the opportunity to avoid financial exploitation and rebalance the Roman economy. Although some scholars insist that the Twelve Tablets were not quite the “all equal before the law” that tradition claimed, and that they alone were not sufficient to be defined as a complete code of laws, they nevertheless undeniably laid the foundation for what would become a fully codified system of law in the Roman world.
The Decemviri must also be credited with creating laws of practical value, separate from any religious consideration, visible to all, and described in precise language with explicit definitions. Thus, the Romans created an approach to legal issues that has since been copied by countless other societies and governments. The new Roman Republic wanted to ensure that every citizen knew the laws. So they carved the laws on metal shelves and placed them in the Forum in Rome for everyone to read. These laws were called the Twelve Tablets because there were twelve different sections. These laws dealt with criminality and property and family issues such as marriage and inheritance. Laws, like all laws, have been adapted over time. But the most important laws, whatever they were, were posted on the Forum throughout the period when Rome was a republic. Like most early legal texts, they were largely procedural, combining harsh and harsh penalties with equally strict and strict forms of procedure.
