The normative system originating at the beginnings of the Roman monarchy bound the sacral realm and the realm of law together in ways that made it impossible to distinguish between those two orders. It was not until the 5th century BCE, when the rising autonomy of law prompted the question of the impact of Roman beliefs on the formation of legal institutions, espe- cially the law of succession, highly reflective of religious convictions of the Romans in the early Republic. The law at that time, being formed by the college of pontiffs, or priests (pontifical ju- risprudence), remained under a strong influence of faith professed by society, at the core of which was domestic worship (sacra privata) practiced in order to provide families and gentes with prosperity. The regulations regarding succession were aimed to maintain its continuity by intro- ducing a universal successor (heres), linking an obligation to continue domestic worship with the patrimony (patrimonium), controlling a universal succession by way of pontiffs on the strength of the calatis comitiis will, and also by enabling the acquisition of an inheritance through usucapion (usucapio pro herede), and, finally, by broadening the scope of people responsible for religious rites to co-heirs (coheredes) and members of the gens (gentiles).
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Vol. 11 No. 2 (2018)
Published: 2020-04-19
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