The Roman Law of Obligations

Peter Birks
Edited by Eric Descheemaeker

A previously unpublished course of lectures from one of the most influential legal scholars of the twentieth century
Provides a clear conceptual map of the Roman law of obligations, explaining key terminology, the structure of the law, and introducing the major works
Gives a valuable overview to all scholars interested in the taxonomy of private law, and the enduring legacy of Roman legal thought

The Roman Law of Obligations

Peter Birks
Edited by Eric Descheemaeker

Description

The Roman Law of Obligations presents a series of lectures delivered by the late Peter Birks as an introductory course in Roman law. Discovered in complete manuscript form following his death, the lectures are published here for the first time.

The lectures present a clear conceptual map of the Roman law of obligations, guiding readers through the institutional structure of contract, delict, quasi-contract, and quasi-delict. They introduce readers to the terminology needed to understand the foundations of Roman law, and the conceptual framework of the law of obligations that left an enduring legacy on European private law.

The lectures offer an invaluable introduction to Roman private law for those coming to the subject for the first time. They will also make stimulating reading for academics and lawyers interested in Roman law, European legal history, and the lasting influence of Roman law on modern private law.

The Roman Law of Obligations

Peter Birks
Edited by Eric Descheemaeker

Editor's Introduction, Eric Descheemaeker
1. Obligations: The Conceptual Map
Part I: Contracts
2. The Organization of Roman Contract
3. The Contract Litteris and The Role of Writing Generally
4. Contracts Verbis
5. Contracts Consensu
6. Contracts Re
Part II: Delicts
7. Furtum (Theft)
8. Rapina (Robbery)
9. Damnum Iniuria Datum (Loss Wrongfully Caused)
10. Iniuria (Contempt)
Part III: Miscellaneous Other Causes
11. The Quasi Categories
Appendices
Translated Extracts
Questions

The Roman Law of Obligations

Peter Birks
Edited by Eric Descheemaeker

Author Information

Peter Birks, The late Regius Professor of Civil Law, University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College

The late Peter Birks was Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College. Widely renowned for his work on Roman law, the English law of obligations, and legal history, he was founder of the Clarendon Law Lectures, editor of the Clarendon Law Series, and editor of the Oxford English Law Series.

Eric Descheemaeker is a Lecturer in European private law at the University of Edinburgh. A former doctoral student of Peter Birks, he specializes in comparative private law and legal history. He is the author of The Division of Wrongs (OUP, 2009).

Contributors:

Eric Descheemaeker

The Roman Law of Obligations

Peter Birks
Edited by Eric Descheemaeker

Reviews and Awards

"There is no need to present a complete survey of its contents, considering that it follows the traditional institutional pattern with which readers of this journal will be familiar. But here the parallel with current textbooks ends. This is no ordinary textbook, it is a real, life introduction to Roman law. The lectures are compulsive reading. The book teaches to understand not just Roman law but law as such, to understand how it works." -Boudewijn Sirks, All Souls College Oxford, The Legal History Review