Engaging study of key issues in Roman water regulation from legal and environmental history, both ancient and modern

This volume contains all of the Roman law, concerning fresh water, found in the Cerpus juris civillis.

"Gardens and Neighbors will provide an important building block in the growing body of literature on the ways that Roman law, Roman society, and the economic concerns of the Romans jointly functioned in the real world." ---Michael Peachin, New York University As is increasingly true today, fresh water in ancient Italy was a limited resource, made all the more precious by the Roman world's reliance on agriculture as its primary source of wealth. From estate to estate, the availability of water varied, in many cases forcing farmers in need of access to resort to the law. In Gardens and Neighbors: Private Water Rights in Roman Italy, Cynthia Bannon explores the uses of the law in controlling local water supplies. She investigates numerous issues critical to rural communities and the Roman economy. Her examination of the relationship between farmers and the land helps draw out an understanding of Roman attitudes toward the exploitation and conservation of natural resources and builds an understanding of law in daily Roman life. An editor of the series Law and Society in the Ancient World, Cynthia Jordan Bannon is also Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her previous book was The Brothers of Romulus: Fraternal Pietas in Roman Law, Literature, and Society (1997). Visit the author's website: http://www.iub.edu/~classics/faculty/bannon.shtml. Jacket illustration: Barren Tuscan Fields in Winter © 2009 Scott Gilchrist. Image from stock.archivision.com.

Excerpt from Roman Water Law: Translated From the Pandects of Justinian 1. The Common Law and the Civil Law. The United States inherited from Europe two great systems of jurisprudence - one the Common Law and the other the Civil Law. The eastern part of the territory of the United States began with the Common Law. The territory west of the Mississippi inherited the Civil Law through the prior sovereignty of either Spain or France or both. The Common Law has invaded most of the area of the Western states, formerly subject to the Civil Law, yet there are many great questions of both title and right still dependent there for settlement upon the rules of the Civil Law. Among the great questions thus dependent is the law of water. The history of the Civil Law, as applicable to such questions, is derived from - First, The Roman Law. Second, The Spanish Law as derived from the Roman Law. Third, The French Law as derived from the Roman Law. Fourth, The Mexican Law as derived from the Spanish Law. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Engaging study of key issues in Roman water regulation from legal and environmental history, both ancient and modern