Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

240 9. roman law
effectiveness of the law against the rich was less than it had ever been, 8 and
this weakness was well known. Every official act was prone to corruption,
while the differences between rich and poor had grown so vast that the rich
could defy local authorities and achieve their ends by applying sufficient pressure.
9 This did not mean that the legal system was entirely subverted, simply
that it lacked authority. Those without money or influence had no choice but
to rely on the law, and the majority of the people accepted it. Indeed, most
people usually accept even thoroughly unsatisfactory laws, as being better
than no law at all. Sometimes legal process and punishment were brought to
bear even on the arrogant rich, 10 but neither reliably nor expeditiously.
ii. the jurisdiction11 The subject matter of legal proceedings was diverse: civil litigation over
property and debt, criminal prosecutions of dangerous offenders, administrative
and tax cases concerning public duties and levies, military cases
concerning both disciplinary infringements and the proprietary and other
affairs of soldiers which in a civilian would have belonged to the ordinary
private law. The regular judge for civil, criminal, administrative and tax
cases was the governor of the province (praeses, iudex) or, where geographically
appropriate, the city prefect of Rome or Constantinople (praefectus
urbis). For minor matters there were town courts. The court of the governor
sat in the capital of the province, the former practice whereby the governor
took his court on circuit (conventus) having become a rarity. A frequent
practice was for the governor, as for the prefect and the emperor himself,
to delegate ordinary civil cases to lower judges (iudices pedanei, iudices delegati ),
so as to retain for himself the more important class of business, especially
criminal cases and cases involving status, wardship and public finance.
There were also special courts for special categories of people: for criminal
cases involving senators, there was the imperial consistory, the praetorian
prefect or, in the west, the Roman city prefect together with five
senators chosen by lot (quinquevirale iudicium); for the officials of the palace
(palatini), the court of the magister officiorum; for the officials of the financial
administration, the local comes largitionum or, where appropriate, the central
comes sacrarum largitionum; for imperial tenants, the local rationalis rei privatae
or, where appropriate, the comes rei privatae at the centre; for soldiers, the
local dux or, where appropriate, the magister militum.
The jurisdiction of the town courts extended only to matters of small
value and non-contentious items. They were presided over by the local
8 Wieacker (1983b). 9 E.g. Aug. Ep. 10*.2–8.
10 Arvandus in 469: Stevens (1993) 103–7; Harries (1992b); Teitler (1992).
11 von Bethmann-Hollweg (1866); Kaser and Hackl (1966) 517,644.
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