Successful luristic opporriinisni with econonn’ of means can onl\' proceed out of such a failure. In additi<m, such successful opportunism shows a readiness on the part of the state authorities to allow others, pri\ ate indi\ iduals at that, to make a considerable part of the private law. ^et the opportunistic uses of muiiciptitio ha\e profound social and economic effects. I he creation of legalK’ recognized rustic praedial sert itudes allows land to he used much more efficientl\’; fuJiu'iii has numerous agricultural and commercial adtantages; cocmptio greatlv widens the social range of husbands who have wixes in their power; adoption allows families that would otherwise hecome extinct to continue; emancipation greatlv increases the number of persons who can own propertx’; the (more or less) free power of testation is of great consequence for families and dx nasties, and so e\ en more is the power of testation accorded to women. The bistort of nunicipatio does not stand alone. The origin of Roman contract law in the earliest contract, stipuhitio^ determined the course of de\ elopment of the whole Roman system of contracts, the nw)St widelx' admired and borrowed area (^f Roman private law.’’ The stipulation was an oral contract in which one partv asked the other if' he promised to gi\ e or do something, and the other promised necessarily using the same \ erh. The stipulatio was unilateral, onlv the promisor being bound, and he was bound strictlv b\’ the words he used. \\ ith the sole exception of partnership {socichis) which has its origins in the law of succession, all the Roman contracts came into existence to co\ er situations where the stipulatio was impossible or inappno priate. I hus, the Roman contract of loan for consumption, mutuum (that is, a loan of fungibles), had to be gratuitous; if interest was rec]uired there could he no mutuum. Mutuumwas therefore not a commercial contract where the loan would be at interest (which was not illegal). .\ccordingl\', mutuum arose among friends and neighbors. In 23 For the argument in detail see Watson, Evolution, pp. 33ff. 75
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