Ancient Greek and Roman Jurisprudence in Western Jurisprudence

In the ancient Greek city-states represented by Athens, relatively speaking, there were not many written laws, let alone independent jurisprudence. For example, whether the law is given by God or decided by human beings, whether the basis of the law is power or nature, justice or rationality, rule of law or one-man rule, the relationship between law and democracy, freedom and equality, the relationship between law and state, the relationship between natural law and positive law, and so on. These thoughts have always had a profound impact on later jurisprudence.

Different from ancient Greece, the laws of slavery society in ancient Rome were extremely developed. From the Law of Twelve Bronze Tables in the 5th century BC to the law compiled by Justinian in the 6th century A.D. (A.D.12nd century is called The Complete Book of Justinian Civil Law), it is spectacular. The development of Roman law has brought about the corresponding development of Roman jurisprudence, which is an important condition to promote the development of Roman law. Cicero, a philosopher and politician in the late Roman Republic, first put forward the theory of natural law systematically according to Stoic philosophy, which provided a theoretical basis for the development of Roman law. In western history, the professional jurist group was formed for the first time in the early Roman Empire, and there were schools and schools of law for the first time: Labeo School (Prokulus School) and Calteau School (Sabine School, see Roman Law), and a large number of legal works were written for the first time. Gaius, one of the five greatest jurists in Rome, wrote The Ladder of Law, which is the earliest known and most well-preserved western legal work. Roman jurists promoted the legislation and judicial work in Rome with their legal theories and legal solutions, and made a relatively complete exposition of the legal relationship of simple commodity production, which had a great influence on the later development of European civil law.