Roman Law in the 20th Century

From the Crisis to the Recovery of the Western Legal Tradition

Abstract

In this work I am going to discuss the role that Roman law has played within the academic environment throughout the 20th century. My analysis will focus primarily on the Italian and German scene, two nations that have tragically seen the rise of totalitarian regimes at the beginnings of the 1920s. Given the almost opposite attitudes in respect of Roman law in those two dictatorships, I will attempt to give an explanation over why the outcome was so different in two political situations that were not so distant ideologically wise. In order to do this, I am going to take into account different elements that have characterized these two experiences such as the law, the authors of the time and other societal aspects. Lastly, my work will provide an overview of the changes that arrived in Europe after the end of WWII and how Roman law principles still played a role, even if only marginally, in the establishment of the European Union and the re-creation of a common European legal tradition. The purpose of this article is to describe the role that Roman law has played throughout the last century and how easy it is for dictatorships to even invoke Roman law to support a propagandistic construction.