Law of the Twelve Tables

The Twelve Tables or Law of the Twelve Tables was a set of laws inscribed on 12 bronze tablets created in ancient Rome between 451 and 449 BCE. Though it did not form a proper codified system in the strictest sense of the term, it was certainly the first step that ensured the protection of the rights of all citizens and addressed the wrongs done by violation of their rights. Plebians led by TrentiliusArsa insisted that laws should be written in order to prevent their distortion and misinterpretation by the Roman magistrates.After 8 years of struggle, they could convince a delegation of three patricians to visit Athens to study the Laws of Solon. In 451 BCE as narrated by Livy, ten Roman citizens were chosen to record the laws(legibusscribundis)by forming a committee(decemviri)and thus reduce the undue influence of the aristocrats (patricians) and priests (pontific) on Roman law and accordingly structure law in such a way that would also do justice to the commoner or the plebian. Alternatively it is believed that this inscription of laws was a self-analytical exercise undertaken by the patricians to govern themselves better and prevent abuse of power. The result was a set of ten written laws in the first year. However they were found unsatisfactory by the plebians and that led to a second decemvirate in 449 BCE that added two more laws on the tablet. Consequently these laws became statutes and the reliance on customs and traditions decreased. The Twelve Tables mostly dealt with private law and civic procedures and was more akin to a list of civil actions. Though the Tablets were destroyed during the invasion of Rome by the Gauls in 390 BCE, they continued to be referred frequently in later Roman legal works thus forming the edifice of Roman law as it evolved later.