Law, Language, and Empire in the Roman Tradition

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By Clifford Ando ’90

Published Jan. 21, 2016

(University of Pennsylvania Press) In this book, Ando argues that Roman civil law developed many of its features through the challenges associated with empire. In the first part of the book, he examines how Roman lawyers dealt with the multiplicity of legal systems subsumed under empire and how to create a cohesive system to extend through the land. He shows how the philosophy of language became integral to this process. In the second part of the book, he looks at the relationship between civil, public, and international law. Ando is a professor of classics, history, and law at the University of Chicago and research fellow in the department of classics and world languages at the University of South Africa.

Paw in print

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The cover of PAW’s February 2025 issue, featuring a photo of Frank Stella leaning back with his hands behind his head.