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influence on the laws of other peoples in times long after the
disappearance of the Roman Empire and in countries that were never
subject to Roman rule. To take the most striking example, in a large part
of Germany, until the adoption of a common code for the whole empire in
1900, the Roman law was in force as “subsidiary law”; that is, it was
applied unless excluded by contrary local provisions. This law, however,
which was in force in parts of Europe long after the fall of the Roman
Empire, was not the Roman law in its original form. Although its basis
was indeed the Corpus Juris Civilis – the codifying legislation of the
emperor Justinian I – this legislation had been interpreted, developed, and
adapted to later conditions by generations of jurists from the 11th century
onward and had received additions from non-Roman sources. Roman law
was first truly realized with an attempt at codification. The Twelve Tables
were promulgated about 451– 450 BC to collect and make known rulings
and procedures that had hitherto been confined to the pontiffs members of
the ruling patrician class. Erected in the Roman Forum on tablets of wood
or bronze, the law – public and sacred, private and criminal – was now in
effect public property and could be appealed to by any Roman citizen. The
importance of the Twelve Tables was such that even obsolete rules went
unrepealed until Justinian's recodification of all Roman laws in the 6th
century AD.
Roman law concerned itself with matters of succession (who was to
inherit what), obligations (including contracts, such as loans, entered into
by individuals), property and possessions, and persons (which included
family, slaves, and citizenship). In the early period, near-absolute power
(patria potestas) was retained by the paterfamilias, the landowner and
head of the household. It was he who legally owned all the property
(including slaves), even what property would normally be thought of as
belonging to his wife or children. A daughter remained under her father's
power until she might decide (or have it decided for her) to marry;
thereafter she would be put under her husband's power. In time, many of
the harsher aspects of this system were mitigated, but much remained until
the very end.

Task 12. Discuss the text with the partner.

Task 13. Are you good at translating English proverbs into
Ukrainian?
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