Abstract
Rome did not reduce its law to a mere concept of linearity or rigidity. The legal order as a whole was conceived as possessing a voice, radiating light, and, even more surprisingly, exuding a pleasant fragrance.
The course will explore these images through literary and legal sources. From the case of Gavius, a Roman citizen subjected by Verres to treatment contrary to the law, to the metaphor of the praetor as viva vox iuris civilis, the “living of civil evoked by Marcian (D. 1.1.8), we will examine some of the foundational texts of the rule of law, which is today being put to the test in many regions of the world. All these metaphors bring one very clear point to light laws have no voice in and of themselves unless there is a judicial system capable of making them speak.
