Quiz: Ancient Law

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. According to Maine, why did Romans dread dying without a will?

   The Church refused burial to those who left no will The Twelve Tables forbade daughters to inherit anything at all on intestacy Intestate estates were confiscated by the state treasury for its public use Intestacy gave nothing to emancipated sons, often the best-loved children
2. 2. Who, according to Maine, expounded the Roman Responsa Prudentum?

   The popular assemblies A permanent bench of judges appointed for life The College of Pontiffs Jurisconsults of the bar, not the bench
3. 3. Why, in Maine’s account, did the Romans escape the fate of Hindu law?

   They abolished custom in favour of written legislation They borrowed their law entirely from the Greek cities They never had a priestly caste Their code was compiled while usage was still healthy
4. 4. Which part of the book does the fifth-edition preface say needs correction, in the light of Village Communities in the East and West?

   The chapters on the modern history of the Law of Nature The First Chapter, on the origin of Customary Law The Fifth Chapter, on primitive society and the patriarchal family The chapter on Wills
5. 5. How, according to Maine, did Rousseau transform the Roman theory?

   He contemplated the State of Nature rather than the Law of Nature He identified the Law of Nature with the customary law of the early Germans He applied the Law of Nature only to relations between independent states He abandoned the idea of nature altogether, grounding the state on utility alone
6. 6. What does Maine treat as the start of true criminal law at Rome?

   The criminal legislation of Augustus, which reorganised the courts The Twelve Tables, which first defined the crimes and fixed their penalties in writing The Lex Calpurnia of 149 BC, creating the first permanent criminal court The appointment of the Quaestores Parricidii to try every case of murder
7. 7. Which Roman institution does Maine regard as the simplest model for feudal double ownership?

   Usucapion The Literal Contract The Emphyteusis, a perpetual lease at fixed rent The Cessio in Jure
8. 8. Where does Maine say feudal primogeniture originated?

   In the ancient customs of the German tribes before the great invasions In military benefices granted by barbarian kings In the canon law imposed on all Europe by the Church In the old Roman law of intestate succession to land
9. 9. What, in Maine’s view, did the French codes create by restricting free bequest?

   A system of small perpetual entails A system of free testamentary disposition Universal primogeniture The abolition of all inheritance
10. 10. In the Roman Stipulation, who put the terms of the contract in the form of a question?

    The praetor A witness holding the scales The promisee The promisor