GIU0591 - INSTITUTIONS OF ROMAN LAW

courses

ID:

GIU0591

Duration (hours):

63

CFU:

SSD:

DIRITTO ROMANO E DIRITTI DELL'ANTICHITÀ

Located in:

Como - Università degli Studi dell'Insubria

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Primo Semestre (26/09/2025 - 15/12/2025)

Course Objectives

The course aims to provide students with an institutional knowledge of Roman private law and procedure. More specifically, the following objectives are pursued: Knowledge and awareness: 1. of the historicity of law, as an intellectual and social phenomenon, 2. of the complexity of the legal phenomenon and its relationship with political, socio-economic and cultural conditions, 3. of the usefulness of an interdisciplinary approach to legal phenomena. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. 1. Recognize the fundamental turning points of the legal-institutional path covered in class, 2. analyze the sources and documents examined in class, 3. present the discipline of institutions and, more generally, of the various phenomena of Roman private law with technical language and with logical and systematic order. Autonomy of judgment 1. Ability to compare and critically analyze Roman legal institutions with those of the present.

Course Prerequisites

In order for the student to understand the topics covered more easily, basic knowledge of Roman history and public law can undoubtedly be useful

Teaching Methods

Teaching activity will take place through lectures (for a total of 63 hours). Supporting and supplementary power-point material will be uploaded to the e-learning platform related to the course.

Assessment Methods

Learning will be assessed for all students (ATTENDING students - are considered those who have followed the lessons continuously - and NON-ATTENDING students) through oral exam sessions, covering: a. the entire course program (for NON-ATTENDING students and for ATTENDING students who have not achieved a passing grade in the intermediate written test - see the instructions below), b. the part of the program not tested in the intermediate written test (for ATTENDING students who have achieved a passing grade in the intermediate written test - see the instructions below). In the evaluation, the following will be taken into account: firstly, the level of knowledge, with respect to the topics covered in the course program, possessed by the student; furthermore, the correct use of legal-technical terminology, the logical and orderly organization of the discourse, not free from connections and comparisons between the different topics, apt to demonstrate the degree of assimilation of the studied material. For ATTENDING STUDENTS, learning will also be assessed through an intermediate written test, structured on three open questions. REFERENCE TEXTS -> reference is made to the bibliographic indications uploaded on Leganto (Portal for the management of course bibliographies) https://www.uninsubria.it/leganto-testi.

The course takes place in the first semester, with a single final oral exam and a relevant intermediate test (for attending students) for the purpose of the final evaluation. Attendance involves the progressive study of the topics covered in class, according to the instructions provided by the teacher on sources and other documentary material made available on the e-learning platform. During the course, the teacher will specify, in detail, the parts of the manual to be studied from time to time, those that will be the subject of the intermediate test and those that will be covered by the final oral exam. Given the need to trace a historical-legal system whose history unfolded over more than thirteen hundred years (from 753 BC, the date of the mythical foundation of Rome, to 565 AD, the year of Justinian's death), it was decided to organize the different topics according to the following temporal and systematic expository breakdown: period of archaic law (753 BC - 241 BC), period of pre-classical and classical law (241 BC - 235 AD), period of post-classical-Justinian law (235 AD - 565 AD). With respect to each of these periods, the intention was to provide a representation of the main institutions of the Roman legal system and Roman private procedure (in extreme summary: the legis actiones process, the formulary process, the cognitio extra ordinem, legal facts and transactions, persons and family, things, real rights, possession, obligations, donations, singular and universal successions, inter vivos and mortis causa).

Course Language

Italian

More information

Office hours. The teacher will dedicate 2 hours each week to student office hours (barring academic commitments), on a day that will be indicated on the Degree Course website and on the e-learning platform. The teacher remains available to be consulted during and after each lesson and to agree, in case of specific needs, appointments upon request. Calendar of teaching activities. Hyperlink to the page of course schedules and locations. Exam sessions. Hyperlink to the exam session board.