graduates had also to take a course in condictiones', non-Oxford graduates were compelled to study a general course of Roman law. But there were no courses in tax law, commercial law, famiU' law or procedure. Iwidence and C'onflict of Laws were only in the b.c.i.. syllabus. In this hook we will see other examples from other times and other places, d'his phenomenon in\ ites us to reflect on further oddities of law in society.’ Of course 1 believe that Lorenzo's L niversitv" should teach the law of the Ivuropean Union. But the absence ttf Roman law, which is now widespread, is a grievous loss. An\ course, though, should indicate the relevance of Roman law for law today. Of the four unforgi\ able sins that 1 believe 1 hav e committed, tvne is that, at Oxford, 1 nev er once thought of explaining the relev ance of Roman law for an understanding of legal change and of law and society. Now 1 see things differentlv'. I am much concerned with the factors in legal development, and with the relationship of law’ to society. Roman law is a perfect laboratorv’. We can study it in a small archaic city state and in a world empire, in prosperin’ and ecoiKvmic chaos, in its move froma pagan wtvrld U') the triumph of Christianirv’, from the Roman West to the Cireek lAst, and then to its numerous apparitions in v arious Receptions. We also hav e great information on other aspects of the society. It is a wonder to me that Rome is not a prime object of study for professional legal anthropologists. Roman law figures prominentlv' in this book, but this is nivt a book of Roman law nor of Roman legal historv'. Roman rules and those from elsewhere are examined not for their own sake, but for what they can teach us about the nature of law. My examples are by no 2 For gaps in teaching see, e.g., Robin Evans-Jones, Civil Law in Scottish Legal Tradition,' in Evans-Jones, Civil Law, pp. 3ff. at p. 8. 14
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