INTRODUCTION.
THE beginnings of Roman law are only noticed incidentally by Gaius or his paraphrasers under Iustinian. They are, however, so important and at the same time so difficult a subject that the attempt to set forth what is known or may be inferred about them, in a continuous form, needs no apology. With the execution of the task I fear it may be different: and a crossfire from jurists and historians might not unreasonably assail an encroacher on the debateable ground between the two provinces. Still, a careful collection of the best known original authorities on early Roman law may not be without use, even though the theory should prove erroneous upon which, as framework, our scattered fragments of knowledge are put together. From one source of error—the retailing of quotations—I trust this book will be found free. Most of the passages cited have been arrived at by independent reading of the original authority: the few others have been carefully verified.
As regards scope, it was my intention to have included the Twelve Tables: but I have found the subject of the Regal Period, little as we know of it, to require so much reading that I am obliged to postpone the Decem-
