The title of this book may likely raise a few eyebrows, since in Romanist literature the regula is commonly regarded as an established principle, rule even, of Roman law – most decidedly not as a rhetorical device. For more than two decades, and perhaps a little defiantly, we have consistently argued that in Roman antiquity law and rhetoric were in fact closely connected and that the texts of the Roman jurists that found their way into Justinian’s Digest can often be better understood when viewed as arguments used to win over a judge or a jury. In this book, we offer compelling evidence for our proposition: more than a few regulae in title D. 50.17 and elsewhere are arguments that were originally crafted for a specific case, are based on commonplaces, topoi, and are worded in general terms, as theseis.
This ‘symbiotic’ understanding of the role of rhetoric in Roman law reinforces our equally unorthodox view of Roman law itself: more than being a system of legal rules based on logic (if it even is that), it is a Fundgrube of arguments that can be used in contentious matters – of which there are, then as now, many. Legal dilemmas are seldom easy to solve; usually, both sides to a conflict present arguments that appear reasonable and just. In such a situation, a jurist perforce resorts to rhetoric to buttress their client’s claim or defence. This novel perspective brings Roman law much closer to real life and adds to its fascination.
We hope that our book will help Romanists to recognise rhetorical devices when construing texts on Roman law and that it will inspire Classicists to use texts from Roman law when illustrating how rhetorical devices work in practice.
When we were writing this book, we received encouragement, advice, and help from others. We are grateful to them all and to some in particular. Randall Lesaffer gave us some useful pointers on the scope and direction of our book and initiated contact with the publisher. Our warm and very special thanks go to Dick Broeren. Supported at stages by Ineke Sijtsma-van der Kruk, his colleague of many years, he gave generously of his time to assist us in editing and revising our draft texts. We believe the book is the better for it.
Olga Tellegen-Couperus and Jan Willem Tellegen
Utrecht, April 2024