A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

20(2 GAIUS. GAIITS.
butable to permanent differences iii persons, and subject at'large in his Civilist. M~cig. (vol. iv p. 1'p.
natural or conventional differences in things, there and vol. v. p. 385), and returned to his favourite
are new and altered rights, which arise from ex- proposition in one of his latest essays. (GMtting.
ternal events and from voluntary acts. Of external Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1840, p. 1033-1039.) He has
events, death, which necessitates the devolution of undoubtedly in his favour the express declaration
property by succession, is in law of the utmost im- of Theophilus (iii. 14. pr., and iv. 6, init.), but the
portance.- From the voluntary legal dealings of opposite view (adopted by Vinnius, Thibaut, and
men, and other changes of the circumstances in others), which ranks obligationes with res, appears
which they are placed, result transitory and par- to be more in accordance with the form of the Inticular rights of various kinds, with their cor- stitutes of Gaius. After treating of corporeal
responding obliqations. Further, in order to redress things-things which entitle their owner to the
any violation of those earlier rights, which alone name of do7ninus-Gains passes easily to obligatiwould have to be coinsidered, if men acted legally, ones, which are res incorporales, and give name to
the law establishes secondary rights-remedies for a kind of ownership distinct from dominium.. The
violation of right, and rights of action. The first word obligatio properly expresses the connection bebook of the Institutes of Gains treats of the dis- tween the person who has a right and the person
tinctions of persons. In this it follows the genius who owes the corresponding duty; hence, in orof the Roman law, which owes mitch of its dis- dinary language, its meaning has been transferred
tinctive character to the great legal differences that to denote the duty, dwhereas in legal phraseology it
originally subsisted between different classes of is often employed to signify the rig/t. It is not
men. There are systems of jurisprudence in which. unlikely that, from the close relationshiphbetween
it might perhaps be better to begin with an average the law of obligationes' and, the.law of actions, and
law, not resting on peculiarities of class or status. from the ambiguity of the word actio, which may
Rights commonly rest, in modern systems, on an apply to acts unconnected with judicial procedure,
average level, from which the student may rise or Gains, and other jurists who succeeded him, may
sink to those inequalities of surface which depend have avoided any precise definition of their grand
on anomalous distinctions; but the law of Rome division of law, and have placed obligationes in an
mlay rather be compared to a country which has its intermediate situation, where they might be held
surface disposed in separate platforms or terraces of to occupy an independent territory, or whence
considerable extent. Gaius first considers men as they might be transferred to the territory either of
free (liberi) or slaves (servi); freemen he sub- res or-of actiones, as convenience-might dictate. If
divides into ingenzui and libertini; and libertisi he we class them with res, we must admit that they'distinguishes as they are cives Romani, anut Latini, require special and separate attention, seeing that
aut Dediticiorume n umero. Here'naturally he they are differently created, transferred, and ended
speaks of manumissions; Next, following a divi- from other res. The summa divisio of obligationes
sion which crosses the former, he divides personae is into two species-obligatio ex contractu, and obinto those who are sui juris, and those who are ligatio ex delicto (iii. 88). In this Gaius differed
alieno juri szubjectae. Under the latter head he from the Institutes of Justinian, which, out of the
speaks of the child in potestate paerentis, of the wife' anomalous obligationes that remain, make two other
in manu nmariti, of the slave in nmancipio domini. general species, namely, obligationes quasi ex conPersons who are sui juris are divided into those tractu and obligationes quasi ex delicto. Of obligatiwho are under tutela, those who are' under cura, ones cx contractu there are four kinds: re contraand those who are under neither tutela nor curs. ]untu;r, at verbis, ant literis, aut consensu (iii. 89).
"With the second book begins the law, quod ad res Of obligationes ex delicto, Gaius also instances four
pertinet. Some things are divini juris, others hu- kinds: veluti si quis fortunzfeceit, bona rapuerit,
mani juris; some, again, are corTorales, some in- damnurn dederit, -injuriean connmmiserit (iii. 182).
corpoerales. After explaining these distinctions, With the fourth and last book Gaius begins the
*Gaius proceeds to the distinction of things into law of actions, as connected with judicial pro-'es mancipi and res nec mancipi. From the latter cedure. After the general division of actiones into'distinction (which depends upon technical rules actiones in rem and actiones in personam, he treats
-relating to the mode of transferring property), he of the ancient legis actiones and of formulae, excespgoes on to investigate the various modes of ac- tiones, and praescriptiones, and he gives an account
quiring and transferring singulae res, as opposed to of the several kinds of interdicta. With these
the acquisition and devolution of property in a topics are mingled various rules of law relating to
lump. He is then naturally led to consider quibus different branches of judicial procedure.'iodis per universitatem res nobis acquiruntur, and The above is an imperfect sketch of the topics
herein, to treat of lhereditas. He treats of testate handled in the Institutes of Gaius. As to his
succession before intestacy, and arranges under the mode of handling them, it is to be observed, that
former head, as a kind of appendix, the law of he treats rather of the dynamics than of the statics
legacies (legata) and fideicommissae; for though of law,-rather of those events orforces by which
these are not proper examples of acquisitio per classes of rights begin, are modified or terminate,
universitatem, they cannot be conveniently sepa- than of those rights and duties which accompany
rated from the law of hereditas. The third book a given stationary legal relation. Thus, in treating
begins with the law of intestate succession, and of the jus quod ad personas pertinet, when he comes
proceeds (iii.' 88) to the doctrine of obligationes. to the patria potestas, it is' not his object to exThere has been great controversy among modern plain the mutual rights and duties of parents and
jurists whether time latz relating to actions does not children, but to point out the cases and events in
begin where obligationes are first introduced to our which those rights and duties arise or cease.
notice. The great modern maintainer of the pro- A new edition of this work was loudly called
position that the law of actions commences with for when the first edition of 1821 was exhausted,
obligationes was the late Hugo, who discussed the and in 1824 Blume made a fresh collation of codez