The leges regiae ('royal laws') were early Roman laws which classical historians such as Plutarch thought had been introduced by the semilegendary kings of Rome.[1]
Though sometimes questioned,[2][3] scholars of the modern era generally have accepted that the laws or the ultimate sources for them originated very early in Roman history, even as early as the period of the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC). In the 20th century, previously unrecognized fragments quoted by ancient writers were identified as leges regiae and attributed or reattributed to the various kings.[4][5]
The king during Rome's Regal period was a political, military, religious, and judicial chief of the community, though his actual duties might be delegated and entrusted to his many auxiliaries.[citation needed]
- ^ Alan Watson, Legal Origins and Legal Change (Hambledon, 1991), pp. 109–114.
- ^ In the 19th century, some historians doubted the authenticity of the leges regiae story.
- ^ Position still held, e.g., by Riccardo Orestano, I fatti di normazione nell'esperienza romana arcaica, Torino, 1967.
- ^ Isituzioni di diritto romano p. 30
- ^ A translation of the leges regiae, attributed to each king and with commentary, is to be found in Ancient Roman Statutes by Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, and Frank Card Bourne (University of Texas Press, 1961), pp. 3–6.[1].