Roman constitutional law theodor mommsen

The legislative assemblies of the Roman Empire were political institutions in the ancient Roman Empire.
During the reign of the second Roman Emperor, Tiberius, the powers that had been held by the Roman assemblies were transferred to the senate.
The neutering of the assemblies had become inevitable for reasons beyond the fact that they were composed of the rabble of Rome.
The electors were, in general, ignorant as to the merits of the important questions that were laid before them, and often willing to sell their votes to the highest bidder.

The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom were political institutions in the ancient Roman Kingdom.
While one assembly, the Curiate Assembly, had some legislative powers, these powers involved nothing more than a right to symbolically ratify decrees issued by the king.
The functions of the other assembly, the Calate Assembly, was purely religious.
During the years of the kingdom, the People of Rome were organized on the basis of units called curiae.
All of the People of Rome were divided amongst a total of thirty curia, and membership in an individual curia was hereditary.
Each member of a particular family belonged to the same curia.
Each curia had an organization similar to that of the early Roman family, including specific religious rites and common festivals.
These curia were the basic units of division in the two popular assemblies.
The members in each curia would vote, and the majority in each curia would determine how that curia voted before the assembly.
Thus, a majority of the curia was needed during any vote before either the Curiate Assembly or the Calate Assembly.

The legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic.
According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of Roman laws, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation of alliances.
Under the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the people held the ultimate source of sovereignty.

The Constitution of the Roman Kingdom was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles originating mainly through precedent.
During the years of the Roman Kingdom, the constitutional arrangement was centered on the king, who had the power to appoint assistants, and delegate to them their specific powers.
The Roman Senate, which was dominated by the aristocracy, served as the advisory council to the king.
Often, the king asked the Senate to vote on various matters, but he was free to ignore any advice they gave him.
The king could also request a vote on various matters by the popular assembly, which he was also free to ignore.
The popular assembly functioned as a vehicle through which the People of Rome could express their opinions.
In it, the people were organized according to their respective curiae.
However, the popular assembly did have other functions.
For example, it was a forum used by citizens to hear announcements.
It could also serve as a trial court for both civil and criminal matters.

The History of the Roman Constitution is a study of Ancient Rome that traces the progression of Roman political development from the founding of the city of Rome in 753 BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.
The constitution of the Roman Kingdom vested the sovereign power in the King of Rome.
The king did have two rudimentary checks on his authority, which took the form of a board of elders and a popular assembly.
The arrangement was similar to the constitutional arrangements found in contemporary Greek city-states.
These Greek constitutional principles probably came to Rome through the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in southern Italy.
The Roman Kingdom was overthrown in 510 BC, according to legend, and in its place the Roman Republic was founded.

The law school of Berytus was a center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity located in Berytus.
It flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in AD 551.

The Roman Constitution was an uncodified set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent.
The Roman constitution was not formal or even official, largely unwritten and constantly evolving.
Having those characteristics, it was therefore more like the British and United States common law system than a sovereign law system like the English Constitutions of Clarendon and Great Charter or the United States Constitution, even though the constitution's evolution through the years was often directed by passage of new laws and repeal of older ones.

Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist.
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century.
His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research.
He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for being the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A History of Rome, after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments.
His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code.