Postgraduate Course: Dispute Resolution in the Roman Empire (PGHC11581)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Roman ideology emphasized the offer of justice, made to all subjects without discrimination. Yet despite the egalitarian principle behind this offer -- given principally through the Roman circuit court -- it has long been recognized that social, practical and economic concerns placed severe restrictions on the efficacy of the Roman justice system. Practical realities did not therefore match the grand claims of imperial ideology, forcing the empire's inhabitants to find alternatives. What were they? |
| Course description |
Roman ideology emphasized the offer of justice made to all subjects without discrimination. Yet despite the egalitarian principle behind this offer -- given principally through the Roman circuit court -- it has long been recognized that social, practical and economic concerns placed severe restrictions on the efficacy of the Roman justice system. Governors had a huge caseload with which they had to deal; judges were not necessarily legal experts, and had little acquaintance with the specifics of the legal orderings native to their provinces; petitioners also had to travel -- potentially a significant distance -- and then pay for room and board, waiting to see if, not necessarily when, their case would be heard. Practical realities did not therefore match the grand claims of imperial ideology, forcing the empire's inhabitants to find alternatives. What were they?
Drawing on work from legal anthropology and sociology on Alternative Dispute Resolution, this course will examine precisely that question: how did historical agents resolve their disputes beyond recourse to state courts? A variety of processes will be examined, ranging across the more formal (arbitration) to self-help. Through examination of a range of evidence, we shall consider such issues as whether ADR enabled the preservation of the legal traditions of minority groups (as has often been demonstrated in modern contexts) and how methods of ADR interacted with state institutions. We shall also consider what the study of ADR might tell us about broader issues in Roman history, including the nature of Roman rule and Romanization.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology (at least 1 of which should be in Classics or Ancient History) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
5,000 word essay (100%) |
| Feedback |
Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser.
Students will have to propose their essay topic around Week 7 (date to be determined in discussion with the students). This will consist of a title and a few paragraphs detailing the sources they will use, state of research, and research-question that will form the basis of their investigation. They will be encouraged to discuss this with the Course Organiser in advance. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- develop and sustain scholarly arguments in written form by formulating appropriate questions and by selecting and utilising relevant evidence.
- evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material and different scholarly approaches to it.
- apply specialised research, techniques and practices for a range of different types of source material (e.g. papyrological, epigraphic, literary, juristic).
- analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning the dispute resolution in socio-legal and legal anthropological studies.
- critically consider whether and/or how these approaches might be useful for understanding dynamics in antiquity and whether the ancient situation might supplement or inform understandings in these other disciplines.
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Reading List
ABEL, R. L. 1974. A Comparative Theory of Dispute Institutions in Society. Law & Society Review 8.2, pp.217-347.
BABLITZ, L. 2016. Roman Courts and Private Arbitration. In: P. du Plessis, C. Ando and K. Tuori, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 234-244.
CHANIOTIS, 2004. Von Ehre, Schande und kleinen Verbrechen unter Nachbarn: Konfliktbewältigung und Götterjustiz in Gemeinden des antiken Anatolien. Pfetsch (Hrsg.), Konflikt (Heidelberger Jahrbücher 48), Heidelberg, pp. 233-254.
DOHRMANN, N. B. 2021. Ad similitudinem arbitrorum: On the Perils of Commensurability and Comparison in Roman and Rabbinic Law. In: K. Berthelot, N.B. Dohrmann, C. Nemo-Pekelman, eds. Legal engagement: The reception of Roman law and tribunals by Jews and other inhabitants of the Empire. Rome: Publications de l'École française de Rome, pp.365-385.
FESTINER, W. L. 1974. Influences of social organization on dispute processing. Law & Society Review 9.1, pp.63-94.
GROTKAMP, N. and A. SEELENTAG, eds. 2021. Konfliktlösung in der Antike. Frankfurt am Main.
HARRIES, J. D. 2003. Creating Legal Space: Settling Disputes in the Roman Empire. In: C. Hezser, ed. Rabbinic Law in its Roman and Near Eastern Context. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp.63-81.
HARRIES, J. D. 2001. Resolving Disputes: The Frontiers of Law in Late Antiquity. In: R. W. Mathiesen, ed. Law, Society and Authority in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 68-82.
HOBSON, D. 1993. The Impact of Law on Village Life in Roman Egypt. In: Halpern, B. and Hobson, D. eds. Politics, Law and Society in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Sheffield, Sheffield University Press, pp.193-219.
JORDAN, 2016. Rethinking Disputes and Settlements: How historians Can Use Legal Anthropology. In: Cummins, S. ed. Cultures of conflict resolution in early modern Europe. Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate, pp.17-50.
PFEIFER, G. and N. GROTKAMP, eds. 2017. Außergerichtliche Konfliktlösung in der Antike Beispiele aus drei Jahrtausenden. Frankfurt am Main.
ROSILLO-LÓPEZ, C. 2020. Arbitration in the Res Publica: a Novel Way of Solving Internal Political Conflicts in the 40s and 30s BC. In: C. Balmaceda, ed. Libertas and Res Publica in the Roman Republic : Ideas of Freedom and Roman Politics. Leiden: Brill, pp. 159-169. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Assimilate, process and communicate a wide range of information from a variety of sources.
Process and critically assess information derived from historical research, utilising theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills specific to the subject area.
Provide clear written and oral analyses based on historical information.
Master practical skills in accessing and interpreting historical sources.
Construct and pursue a coherent argument driven by analysis of the primary source material.
Analyse, assimilate and deploy critically a range of secondary literature relevant and essential to the student's individual research subject. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kimberley Czajkowski
Tel: (0131 6)50 9110
Email: k.czajkowski@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Sara Dennison
Tel: (0131 6)50 2501
Email: Sara.Dennison@ed.ac.uk |
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