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Table III of the Twelve Tables: Debt

The laws the Twelve Tables covered were a way to publicly display rights that each citizen had in the public and private sphere.  These Twelve Tables displayed what was previously understood in Roman society as the unwritten laws.  The public display of the copper tablets allowed for the a more balanced playing field between the Roman patricians who were educated and understood the laws of legal transactions, and the Roman plebeians who had little education or experience in understanding law.  By revealing the unwritten rules of society to the public, the Twelve Tables provided a means of safeguard for Plebeians allowing them the opportunity to avoid financial exploitation and added balance to the Roman economy.

Featured within the Twelve Tables are five rules about how to handle debtors and creditors. These rules show how the ancient Romans maintained peace with financial policy.  In his article Development of the Roman Law of Debt Security, Donald E. Phillipson states the Twelve Tables were, “A set of statues known as the Twelve Tables that was passed by an early assembly served as the foundation of the Roman private law.  The Twelve Tables were enacted in the mid-fifth century B.C. as the result of a conflict among social classes in ancient Rome.”  (page 1231-1232). Phillipson also describes the leniency of the relationship between debtor and creditor on how it was changed and arranged in the 5^th century B.C. and how Roman law surrounding it was tweaked within the Twelve Tables that initially drew out the legal boundaries surrounding debt.  Specially discussing the influence of creditors rights, Phillipson states, “In the fifth century B.C. only movables were pledged under pignus, although any res in which bonitary ownership was held was capable of being pledged. However, by the late Republic, land and buildings were increasingly pledged in pignus arrangements. This increased usage paralleled the expansion of creditors' rights with respect to the pledged property. The right of possession and seizure (jus possidendi) and the right of foreclosure and sale (jus distrahendi) were probably the most important of the developing creditors' rights. These increased creditors' rights also encouraged and contributed to the expansion of the types of res in which bonitary ownership, and thus pignus arrangements, were possible. For example, the use of pignus expanded to include usufructs, rustic servitudes, rights of way, and even pledges themselves by the second century A.D.” (page 1239).

In the book, The Twelve Tables, written by an anonymous source due to its origins being collaborated through a series of translations of tablets and ancient references, P.R. Coleman-Norton arranged and translated many of the significant features of debt that the Twelve Tables enacted into law during the 5^th century.  The translation of the legal features surrounding debt and derived from the known sources of the Twelve Tables are stated as such

“1. Of debt acknowledged and for matters judged in court (in iure) thirty days shall be allowed by law [for payment or for satisfaction].

2. After that [elapse of thirty days without payment] hand shall be laid on (manus iniectio) [the debtor]. He shall be brought into court (in ius).

3. Unless he (the debtor) discharge the debt or unless some one appear in court (in iure) to guarantee payment for him, he (the creditor) shall take [the debtor] with him. He shall bind [him] either with thong or with fetters, of which the weight shall be not less than fifteen pounds or shall be more, if he (the creditor) choose.

4. If he (the debtor) choose, he shall live on his own [means]. If he live not on his own [means], [the creditor,] who shall hold him in bonds, shall give [him] a pound of bread daily; if he (the creditor) shall so desire, he shall give [him] more.

5. Unless they (the debtors) make a compromise, they (the debtors) shall be held in bonds for sixty days. During those days they shall be brought to [the magistrate] into the comitium (meeting-place) on three successive market[…]”

The five mandates of that the Twelve Tables encompassing debt created a new understanding within social classes in ancient Rome that insured financial exploitation would be limited within legal business transactions.

Addition to Wikipedia Page: Twelve Tables:

Despite the great debate on the where the many fragmented remains of the Twelve Tables should be placed in context of interpretation, evidence found presents what the Law of the Twelve Tables may have stated.  Through modern interpreted translation, fragments that are consistent with the quoted law, fragments that are in context of the law and also express legal provisions and passages from ancient texts that show proof of the Twelve Tables and interpretations of the laws, the Twelve Tables construction covered aspects of law that inhibited all of the following:

1. Proceedings on Preliminary Trials

2. Trial

3. Debt

4. Paternal Power

5. Inheritance and Guardianship

6. Ownership and Possession

7. Real Property

8. Torts or Delicts

9. Public Law

10. Sacred Law

11. Supplementary Laws

12. Supplementary Laws

(http://www.archive.org/stream/thetwelvetables14783gut/14783.txt)

Although many debate the true legal context that the Twelve Tables may have represented, from the readings and interpretations and fragments we have discovered, this list of legal aspects of the Twelve Tables shows, from a collaboration of many sources, what the Legal Tables may have covered.

Notes for Improvement on "Twelve Tables" Wikipedia Page:

• I want to improve this page because as a political science major I feel that this page, although informational, is brief. The influence that the original Twelve Tables had on the political structure of Rome is very significant. From the sources that I have found and other sources that I plan on using in my research, I will improve this article by drawing on the evolution of the Roman legal system and constitutional rights that each class of citizens is given. I will also draw upon the differences in rights allowed by law and the ways in which the political structure is influenced by the rights given to different classes of citizens. It will also be a goal of mine to improve this page by showing who created the Twelve Tables, and why that is important for the legal distribution of rights to each class of people. It will also be important to improve the section focusing on the origin and influence of the Twelve Tables from Greek culture and compare and contrast the success and failure in many aspects of how this constitution impacted Ancient Roman society.

Bibliography for "Twelve Tables" Project

• Greenidge, A. H. J. “The Authenticity of the Twelve Tables.” The English Historical Review, vol. 20, no. 77, 1905, pp. 1–21., www.jstor.org/stable/549168.
• Steinberg, Michael. “The Twelve Tables and Their Origins: An Eighteenth-Century Debate.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 43, no. 3, 1982, pp. 379–396., www.jstor.org/stable/2709429.

What I Plan To Contribute To the "Twelve Tables" Wikipedia Article

• This Wikipedia article focuses mostly on the foundation of the ancient roman law and how it was influential in guiding the legal system in Rome. When looking further at this article I plan to contribute aspects of Roman law that are controversial in legislature, touch upon how the Roman law has evolved from past political regimes, and how Roman law has evolved after instituting the twelve tables and having a judicial system relying heavily on rhetoric.

Notes and Feedback on Ancient Rome Wikipedia Page:

Through analyzing the Wikipedia page "Ancient Rome," I have found that each fact is referenced with an appropriate and reliable reference or source. Although there are many facts that qualify as general information or common knowledge about Ancient Rome, the introduction paragraph about Ancient Rome on its web page are backed up with credible sources referencing dates and time periods that qualify as academic sources. This page covering Ancient Rome was especially in depth covering many aspects of the Ancient Roman world that I believe any good encyclopedia would cover. Backed up by credible sources, everything from the Founding Myth of Rome, the Kingdom, the Republic, the Punic Wars, the Late Republic, Marius and Sulla, Caesar and Octavian were covered in depth and all had credible and multiple sources to back up the information that was provided on the page. Although there was an abundant amount of information provided on the page, it may have seemed overwhelming to some, but I did not find the information distracting or irrelevant. Besides talking about the important political figures at the time, this page also discusses the Ancient Roman culture and touches upon religion, cuisine, language, art, music, literature and even games they used to play to pass time. However, the section covering most of the cultural customs of the Ancient Roman world do not provide many or any sources of referenced information. This article also seems to show almost no biased opinion of the ancient world whatsoever. Besides a few times in which the web pages author states that many Roman customs originate from Greek Culture (which some archeologists or historians may argue with) this article seems to take a neutral perspective on the historical context and analysis of the Ancient Roman world. Through continued reading of the many sections, there do not seem to be any viewpoints that are either over or under represented by the author. Also, throughout the article, there does seem to be some paraphrasing, although it is not plagiarized because there are many instances of it being backed up by references from different academic texts. Encyclopedic writing is different from persuasive writing in this instance because this page recounting many different aspects of Roman history without making an argument. It is simply just highlighting many specific aspects of Ancient Roman culture and compiling them into one piece of writing. Encyclopedic writing is more of a discussion of facts rather than a discussion begging an argument.

Notes and Feedback on Ancient Rome and Wine Wikipedia Page:

• Each fact that was presented within this article was not referenced reliably, however, when specific dates or claims about who was drinking the wine and when appeared in the article, such as the spread of Roman wines influence even before the military influenced other cultures with their wine.
• Everything that I found in this article was very relevant to the Ancient Romans and wine. Everything covered from the early history of drinking wine, the golden ages of making wine, Pompeii (the central wine making site), viticulture and how the Romans expanded this culture around Italy and Europe. However, i did find that there were some aspects of this page that were grounds for distraction and lack of depth when discussing the wine making culture specially within Rome. Specially, this article talks about the expansion of viticulture from the Romans to Hispania, Germania, Gaul, and Brittania. Each of these locations has a lengthy portion of description and description of influence, however takes away from the general topic of the page that is supposed to focus on Ancient Rome and Wine, not other cultures. Although I recognize that it was the Romans who influenced viticulture in those areas and it is worth mentioning, the section length seemed to be a bit long and distracting, taking away from other aspects of the article that may be more important.
• This article seems to generally be neutral in the way that it lays out information regarding the viticulture of the Romans and how they spread influence throughout Italy and the rest of Europe.
• The source uses information that comes from a variety of different journals and books regarding the history or wine and how it was used in Ancient Rome, along with journals and academic books referencing the use of wine for Roman life compared to the religious ceremonies and religious thoughts of the Ancient Romans at the time they were alive and how wine was incorporated into their daily lives.
• I believe that the viewpoints represented are transcribed by the author of this article and are represent those viewpoints given by the authors of the sources that the information stems from. The main viewpoints that may be argued are that of Roman culture influencing other European settlements viticulture although the Roman military and other influencers did play a big part in starting the spread of viticulture around Europe and therefore if one were to challenge that thought, it would be difficult to disprove.
• Upon checking some of the sources that were available as footnotes within this article, some seemed to work and some did not. Although the bibliography was very well laid out and in proper form, some of the links to the sources provided such as source [29] did not provide a hyperlink to an available source. However, other hyperlinks of footnotes that covered the history of wines and how the Romans influenced viticulture were available such as hyperlink [35]. Although this is a bit troubling for the source as a whole, the piece as a whole still seems credible, however needs to either be updated with its sources or managed to allow a wider variety of users to have access to the information that they obtained their sources from.
• Once again, i believe that this encyclopedic writing is different from persuasive writing because this writing is giving an account of factual evidence that tells a story of how wine evolved in Rome and into other culture and describes its uses and traditions around wine that also help describe why it is important, however, this article is not making any arguments it is simply stating the facts of what the author has gathered from researching the topic.

Notes and Feedback on Gladiator Wikipedia Page:

• Throughout reading about the Gladiators on this Wikipedia page, the sources used ranged from the author discussing references from Livy, to many other historically academic sources that were all credible and appropriate for the information that was sited throughout this entry. The author used 223 footnotes all from either newspapers, scholarly journals or academic texts that connected the points that the author made to the historical accuracy of the accounts of the Roman Gladiators.
• Everything in the article is relevant to the article topic as it covers specifically many aspects of Gladiator life including the history of Gladiator battles, the organization of the battles, women involved with Gladiators, the emperors and how they used the Gladiators as a form of entertainment for the public, victory and death after combat, life expectancy, schools and training of gladiators and gladiators social status.
• I feel as though this article is neutral because it shows many aspects of the life of gladiators as well as the social standing and life of those involved with gladiators. I believe that this article shows now bias in its account because it touches upon the historical aspects of many different parts of gladiators lives that many people do not take into consideration when initially researching this topic.
• The information that this article gained research from is also for the most part not biased. Because the article covers so much about the different levels of gladiators lives, the main resources and sources provided to write this piece are unbiased in the sense that they are used to cover so much information about a wide variety about only one sort of life in the Ancient world. While covering the life of a gladiator, this page also considers the lives that surround the gladiator and therefore shows no biased in the sources used because of how the author needed to support the claims made about those surrounding the gladiators relationships. Given that so many different aspects of a gladiators life are represented throughout this article, i do not believe that any one aspect of the article over represents or under represents any one actor in the life of a gladiator. Given the amount of sources used and the wide range factors that influenced gladiators, I believe a fair balance was reached when elaborating on this topic.
• When checking the sources for if they were outdated and if they even worked while clicking the hyperlink, they did check out and were available. Although many sources were books and were cited as such, the hyperlinks used as sources were available.
• In the case of this Wikipedia page, encyclopedic writing is different than persuasive writing because this touches upon the factual accounts and historical accounts of the life and relations of gladiators in Ancient Rome and how these people lived their lives, and were a part of the community in a different way. Nothing was argued, however many aspects of life and relationships were touched upon.

What I have learned from this evaluation process:

• Throughout this process I have learned that wikipedia as a source can be very reliable yet also at time hard to trust. It is important that while analyzing a wikipedia article that you take sources into consideration and the credibility of those sources is all the more important. Anybody can post information on wikipedia and in order to gain an academic understanding