The course is aimed at the student who has an interest in questioning some central questions of our associated coexistence from a historical point of view, with a particular look at the history of law and Roman legal thought: the birth of law, the birth of the figure of the jurist as a specialist in law, the law-politics (and law-religion) relationship, the meaning of interpretation, jurisdiction and legal argumentation.
Students can choose one of the following programs:
1) A. SCHIAVONE, Ius. L’invenzione del diritto in occidente. Nuova edizione, Torino, 2017, pp. 47-398.
2) - A. SCHIAVONE, Linee di storia del pensiero giuridico romano, Torino 1994
- E. STOLFI, Gli attrezzi del giurista. Introduzione alle pratiche discorsive del diritto, Torino 2018
3) C. GIACHI, V. MAROTTA, Diritto e giurisprudenza in Roma antica, Roma 2021
Non-attending students interested in the topics of the course (history of Roman legal thought, history of jurisprudence, history of legal argumentation) who want to deal with a different textbook can contact professor by mail
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide the law student with the tools to critically understand some aspects of his future role as a 'jurist': his social function and his position in the cultural sphere - fundamental aspects that precisely in the legal experience Roman begin to take shape in a conscious and peculiar way - the origins of the language and argumentative technique typical of the jurist as a law specialist. Finally, with particular reference to the seminar part, the course aims to make the student able to deal with some major issues in the history of legal thought, legal institutions, the history of legal ideas, alone and in dialogue with colleagues.
Prerequisites
To take the exam, it is necessary to have already taken the exams of Diritto privato I and Diritto costituzionale generale.
Furthermore, for the preparation of the exam, it is advisable to know the topics related to the exam of Istituzioni di diritto romano, even if this last exam is not formally preparatory.
Teaching Methods
The course will be divided into lectures and seminars. During the course, an innovative teaching project will also take place, Readings in comparison, thanks to which students will discuss how to read a text to choose from a list proposed in class. Also during the lectures, students' interventions on the topics under discussion will be particularly encouraged and critical discussion on the topics covered will be favored.
Further information
Registration for attending students will take place through the Moodle platform. Registration through the Moodle platform can be done from the month of February.
During each lesson will be projected slides related to the topics. The slides will be distributed through the Moodle platform.
To graduate in Storia del pensiero giuridico romano, students are required to take the specialization exams present in the program of our School (in particular, Diritto romano and Storia della costituzione romana). For any information, contact the teacher
Type of Assessment
The verification of the learning will consist of an oral talk, which will aim to assess the mastery acquired by the student with respect to the topics covered.
During the oral exam the attending student can take advantage of the support of slides containing ancient sources distributed to the course and refer to the research carried out personally and by colleagues.
The exam will focus on all the topics covered during the course; the number of questions will depend on the progress of the talk, varying according to the extent to which it will be possible to evaluate the preparation of the student based on the answers received.
Course program
The course offers a path of reflection on some central themes for jurist training and intends to induce the student to question himself on some issues often overlooked in jurist training (and not only): the birth of law, the birth of the figure of the jurist as specialist in law, the relationship between law and politics (and law and religion), the meaning of interpretation, of jurisdiction and of legal argumentation.
In the first part of the course, we will deal with the real history of Roman legal thought, from the perspective of the investigation relating to the history of those who, in ancient Rome, elaborated the law right from its affirmation as an organizational paradigm of the community. Therefore, we will observe what was the role of the popes called to preserve and create the rules necessary for the life of the community, and then the lay jurists from the republic to the late empire. In going through this story we will deal with the meaning of the term interpretatio (interpretatione) and giurisditio (jurisdiction), in the Roman legal experience and in our modern experience. We will investigate the transition from an oral dimension to the revolution of writing and the construction of a real legal literature. Overall, therefore, we will investigate how legal knowledge, precisely in the Roman experience, has come to acquire the characteristics of a real science and its jurists to become the first paradigm of scholar, intellectual devoted to the study and elaboration of law .
In the context of this story, then, we will focus on the question of the birth, still in ancient Rome, of the peculiar form of argumentation that is typical of jurisconsults: we will examine how the techniques of investigation and representation of law develop and how the discursive practices that constitute the vehicle and symbol of western legal reflection.
We will carry out the whole course taking advantage of a guided reading of the ancient sources, which will be proposed in Italian translation and subjected to comparison in the classroom. Readings on specific topics will also be proposed, chosen in agreement with the students, to encourage open discussion and mutual enrichment. It will also be possible to carry out the innovative teaching activity Letture a confronto.