Alan Watson

Legal Origins and Legal Change

Nicola Harrison

'I think the knowledge presented in the text is hugely important for teachers of singing. In the shadow of ignorance, superstition and misunderstanding rage. Some singers do quite well even if their thinking about the voice is completely nuts but teachers need to understand each other in order to profit from exchange of experience and ideas'. Johan Sundberg The knowledge in this clearly presented text is important for teachers and students of singing and set out in a most imaginative way. The figures are beautiful and simply delightful to look at. Learners can acquire and revise knowledge in multiple and often playful ways. In the shadow of all the mystery and guesswork regarding the structure and function of the vocal instrument, the approach of this book, written from a singer's perspective, with scientific and anatomical accuracy, is a much-needed educational tool. As a manual it offers a universal approach to an understanding of the larynx that will enable pedagogues to engage in a robust and open exchange of experience and ideas with their students. This is an excellent, comprehensive approach that has been written specifically to help singers understand their instrument as the book builds through from basic, colour-coded anatomy to function.

A Singer's Guide to the Larynx

When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the Code, which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the Institutes, an elementary student's textbook, and the Digest, by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The Digest was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 [Books 1-15] Volume 2 [Books 16-29] Volume 4 [Books 41-50]

The Digest of Justinian

Peter J F Coutts

The book describes the history of a humble family that migrated from England to Ireland in the mid 17th c and put down roots at Kilconnor in County Carlow. By the end of the century many members of the family had joined the Society of Friends and concurrently the family had elevated its social and economic status as it enjoined with the landed gentry. During the late 17th c and 18th c family members left County Carlow and established themselves in other places in Ireland, including Counties Wexford, Tipperary, Dublin, Kildare, Laois and Offaly and later again in England Australia and New Zealand. Diversification in occupation followed, members entering the legal, military, banking and medical professions. Others stayed with the land and were caught up with a fascination for horses, fox hunting, polo and racing in Ireland, England and Australia some members acquiring formidable reputations up to the present day. Family members have, for example, contributed to the growth of theatre and prison reform for juveniles in England, the early banking system in Ireland, the growth of the dairy farming in Victoria, Australia, the fostering of pride and interest in exotic gardens in Ireland, the invention of revolutionary instruments for detecting submarines and the invention of the “backhand stoke” in the sport of polo. To this day the family continues to produce exceptional people whose achievements are memorable. John Watson, now living at Ballybolger in County Carlow, is one such example having represented Ireland recently at Olympic equestrian events.

The Watsons of Kilconnor, County Carlow, 1650 – present

As a result of unforeseen and unpredictable events, the German Federal Republic is now the most populous state in Europe, with nearly 79 million people, and the economic potential of a United Germany is awesome. The author here explores, from a range of viewpoints, the question of German identity.

Who are They Now?

The Germans

This book is not about the rules or concepts of Roman law, says Alan Watson, but about the values and approaches, explicit and implicit, of those who made the law. The scope of Watson's concerns encompasses the period from the Twelve Tables, around 451 B.C., to the end of the so-called classical period, around A.D. 235. As he discusses the issues and problems that faced the Roman legal intelligentsia, Watson also holds up Roman law as a clear, although admittedly extreme, example of law's enormous impact on society in light of society's limited input into law. Roman private law has been the most admired and imitated system of private law in the world, but it evolved, Watson argues, as a hobby of gentlemen, albeit a hobby that carried social status. The jurists, the private individuals most responsible for legal development, were first and foremost politicians and (in the Empire) bureaucrats; their engagement with the law was primarily to win the esteem of their peers. The exclusively patrician College of Pontiffs was given a monopoly on interpretation of private law in the mid fifth century B.C. Though the College would lose its exclusivity and monopoly, interpretation of law remained one mark of a Roman gentleman. But only interpretation of the law, not conceptualization or systematization or reform, gave prestige, says Watson. Further, the jurists limited themselves to particular modes of reasoning: no arguments to a ruling could be based on morality, justice, economic welfare, or what was approved elsewhere. No praetor (one of the elected officials who controlled the courts) is famous for introducing reforms, Watson points out, and, in contrast with a nonjurist like Cicero, no jurist theorized about the nature of law. A strong characteristic of Roman law is its relative autonomy, and isolation from the rest of life. Paradoxically, this very autonomy was a key factor in the Reception of Roman Law--the assimilation of the learned Roman law as taught at the universities into the law of the individual territories of Western Europe.

The Spirit of Roman Law

In Ancient Law and Modern Understanding Alan Watson proposes that ancient law is relevant and important for understanding history, theology, sociology, and literature. "Law, though technical," he writes, "is not remote from scholarship on other matters, and law is a central element in society." From Homeric Greece to present-day Armenia, Watson examines law's influence. Without a sensitivity to technical legal language, scholars of literature or history miss much: the use of puns in Plautus, Sulla's claim that Julius Caesar was descended from a slave, the relationship between the Synoptic Gospels. Legal history is an essential tool for understanding society, Watson argues, but it must be applied with knowledge of how law moves from one society to the next, legal reliance on authority, juristic concern with apparent trivia, and the impact on legal growth.

At the Edges

Ancient Law and Modern Understanding

When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the Code, which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the Institutes, an elementary student's textbook, and the Digest, by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The Digest was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 [Books 1-15] Volume 3 [Books 30-40] Volume 4 [Books 41-50]

When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the Code, which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the Institutes, an elementary student's textbook, and the Digest, by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The Digest was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 2 [Books 16-29] Volume 3 [Books 30-40] Volume 4 [Books 41-50]

In this masterful choreography of legal philosophy, legal history, and comparative law, Alan Watson draws from ancient Roman, English, and French law to assess how lawmakers fail to envision ways to provide society with laws geared toward precise political or social goals.

Failures of the Legal Imagination

This book focused on texts and contexts is dedicated to a great contemporary Romanist, legal historian and comparative lawyer: Professor Watson.

Essays in Honour of Alan Watson

Critical Studies in Ancient Law, Comparative Law and Legal History

When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the Code, which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the Institutes, an elementary student's textbook, and the Digest, by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The Digest was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 [Books 1-15] Volume 2 [Books 16-29] Volume 3 [Books 30-40]

Alan Watson

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