In the 19th century most civil-law countries codified the bulk of their legal statutes. The Early Law Prior to the Twelve Tables, the law of Rome was religious in character, and its interpretation rested with priests, who were members of the patrician class. Complaints and agitation by the plebes, the common people, led to the reduction to writing of the existing legal customs and the addition of new principles unknown in the customary law. The Law of the Twelve Tables thus drafted was submitted to and accepted by the popular assembly. This code set forth simple rules suitable for an agricultural community; it established equal law for patricians and plebes and was prized by the Romans as the source of all public and private law. The legal system established under this code, and the body of rules that developed around it, applied exclusively to Roman citizens and was known as the jus civile. The laws of the Twelve Tables are one of the earliest extant law codes. Covering both civil and criminal matters, it is commonly believed that these laws served to codify existing custom. They provide not only a valuable insight into Roman law, but into Roman culture as well. Here are some excerpts taken from the translated version. Quickly kill . a dreadfully deformed child. If a father thrice surrender a son for sale, the son shall be free from the father. A child born ten months after the father's death will not be admitted into a legal inheritance. Females shall remain in guardianship even when they have attained their majority . except Vestal Virgins. A spendthrift is forbidden to exercise administration over his own goods. Persons shall mend roadways. If they do not keep them laid with stone, a person shall drive his beasts where he wishes. It is permitted to gather fruit falling down on another man's farm. If any person has sung or composed against another person a song such as was causing slander or insult to another, he shall be clubbed to death.
