BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE ROMAN LAW OF LETTING AND HIRING

Abstract

J URISTIC writing and Imperial Constitutions on the subject of locatio conductio , collected by the compilers to produce D.19.2 and C.4.65, do not present a complete picture of the Roman law of lease. Not only were most of these texts severed from their original context, but the statements in the Introductory Constitutions to different parts of the Corpus Iuris Civilis also indicate that a large number were eliminated in the compilation process. Although it can hardly be disputed that what the compilers chose to include in these two titles was an accurate account of the law of letting and hiring in force during the time of Justinian, it has been credibly suggested that these titles were given a specific focus in order to project a particular image of the Roman rental economy.