OUP is publishing a new casebook
on the Roman law of contracts.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Roman contract law has profoundly
influenced subsequent legal systems throughout the world, but is inarguably an
important subject in its own right. This casebook introduces students to the
rich body of Roman law concerning contracts between private individuals.
In order to bring out the
intricacy of Roman contract law, the casebook employs the case-law
method--actual Roman texts, drawn from Justinian's Digest and other sources,
are presented both in Latin and English, along with introductions and
discussions that fill out the background of the cases and explore related legal
issues. This method reflects the casuistic practices of the jurists themselves:
concentrating on the fact-rich environment in which contracts are made and enforced,
while never losing sight of the broader principles upon which the jurists
constructed the law.
The casebook concentrates
especially on stipulation and sale, which are particularly well represented in
surviving sources. Beyond these and other standard contracts, the book also has
chapters on the capacity to contract, the creation of third-party rights and
duties, and the main forms of unjustified enrichment. What students can hope to
learn from this casebook is not only the general outlines and details of Roman
contract law, but also how the jurists developed such law out of rudimentary
civil procedures.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce W. Frier is John and Teresa
D'Arms Distinguished University Professor of Classics and Roman Law at the
University of Michigan. His publications include A Casebook on the Roman Law of
Delict, A Casebook on Roman Family Law (with Thomas A. J. McGinn), and The
Modern Law of Contracts (with J. J. White). He is also the general editor of
the annotated translation of The Codex of Justinian.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface for Students
Introduction to Roman Contract
Law
Chapter I. Capacity to Contract
Chapter II. Stipulation: A Formal
Contract
Chapter III. Contracts Created
Through Delivery (“Real Contracts”)
Chapter IV. Sale: A Contract
Created Through Informal Agreement
Chapter V. Other Consensual
Contracts: Problems in Execution
Chapter VI. Filling in the Gaps:
Contracts Created Through One Party's Performance
Chapter VII. Third Party Rights
and Responsibilities
Chapter VIII. Quasi-Contract
Glossary
Short Biographies of the Jurists
Suggested Further Reading
Index of Sources
More info here
