Editing Twelve Tables (section)

==Drafting and development==

There is no scholarly agreement about the exact historical account of the creation and promulgation of the laws of the Twelve Tables. Ancient writers' stories about the Twelve Tables were recorded a couple of centuries later, in the second and first centuries BC. The first known publications of the text of the Twelve Tables were prepared by the first Roman jurists. [[Sextus Aelius Paetus Catus]] (consul in 198 BC) in his work on jurisprudence called ''[[Tripartita]]'' included a version of the laws of the Twelve Tables, his commentary on them and the legal formulas (''[[legis actiones]]'') to use them in trials.<ref>''Digest'', 1.2.2.7.</ref><ref>Harries, Jill, 2007, “Roman Law Codes and the Roman Legal Tradition,” in ''Beyond Dogmatics. Law and Society in the Roman World'', eds. John W. Cairns and Paul du Plessis, Edinburgh: Edinburgh Studies in Law, 88.</ref> [[Lucius Acilius Sapiens]] was another early interpreter of the Twelve Tables in the middle of the second century BC.<ref>Cicero, ''[[De Legibus]]'', 2.29</ref><ref>Dyck, Andrew Roy, 2004, ''A Commentary on Cicero, De Legibus'', Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 405.</ref> Meanwhile Roman historians Livy and [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] provided the most detailed accounts of the creation of the laws.<ref>Livy, 3.9–64; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Ant. Rom.'', 10.1–11.50.</ref> In addition, different versions of the story are known from the works of [[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Sextus Pomponius]].<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 12.24–6; Sextus Pomponius, ''Digest'', 1.2.4.</ref>

[[File:Loix des Douze Tables.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Publication of the Twelve Tables in Rome, approx. 2 BC. Drawing by [[Silvestre David Mirys]] (1742–1810); engraved by [[Claude-Nicolas Malapeau]] (1755–1803)]]According to Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the laws of the Twelve Tables have come about as a result of the long social struggle between patricians and plebeians, in modern scholarship known as the [[conflict of the orders]].<ref>Livy, 3.33–41. </ref> After the expulsion of the last king of Rome, [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|Tarquinius Superbus]], in 509 BC, the [[Roman Republic|Republic]] was governed by a hierarchy of [[Roman Magistrate|magistrates]]. Initially, only [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] were eligible to become magistrates and this, among other plebeian complaints, was a source of discontent for [[plebeians]]. In the context of this unequal status, plebeians would take action to secure concessions for themselves using the threat of [[Secessio plebis|secession]]. They would threaten to leave the city with the consequence that it would grind to a halt, as the plebeians were Rome's labor force. Tradition held that one of the most important concessions won in this class struggle was the establishment of the Twelve Tables, establishing basic procedural rights for all Roman citizens in relation to each other.<ref name="du Plessis 5–6; 29–30">{{cite book|last=du Plessis|first=Paul|title=Borkowski's Textbook on Roman Law|year=2010|publisher=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-957488-9|pages=5–6, 29–30|edition=4th}}</ref> The drafting of the Twelve Tables may have been fomented by a desire for self-regulation by the patricians, or for other reasons.<ref name="Crawford"/>

Around 450 BC, the first ''[[Decemvirate (Twelve Tables)|decemviri]]'' (decemvirate, board of "Ten Men") were appointed to draw up the first ten tables. According to [[Titus Livius|Livy]], they sent an embassy to [[Greece]] to study the legislative system of [[Athens]], known as the [[Solonian Constitution]], but also to find out about the legislation of other [[Greeks|Greek]] cities.<ref>Livy, 2002, p. 23</ref><ref>Durant, 1942, p. 23</ref> Some scholars deny that the Romans imitated the Greeks in this respect<ref>Steinberg, S. 'The Twelve Tables and Their Origins: An Eighteenth-Century Debate' ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' Vol. 43, No. 3 (1982) 379–396</ref> or suggest that they visited only the Greek cities of [[Magna Graecia|Southern Italy]], and did not travel all the way to Greece.<ref name="Grant 75">{{cite book|last=Grant|first=Michael|title=History of Rome|year=1978|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=0-02-345610-8|pages=75|edition=1st}}</ref> In 450 BC, the second ''decemviri'' started to work on the last two tables.

The first decemvirate completed the first ten codes in 450 BC. Here is how [[Livy]] describes their creation:

<blockquote>
"...every citizen should quietly consider each point, then talk it over with his friends, and, finally, bring forward for public discussion any additions or subtractions which seemed desirable." (cf. Liv. [[s:from the Founding of the City/Book 3#34|III.34]])
</blockquote>

In 449 BC, the second decemvirate completed the last two codes, and after a ''[[secessio plebis]]'' (secession of the plebes, a plebeian protest) to force the Senate to consider them, the Law of the Twelve Tables was formally promulgated.<ref>McCarty,  Nick "Rome The Greatest Empire of the Ancient World", The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008</ref>  According to Livy (AUC [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 3#57|3.57.10]]) the Twelve Tables were inscribed on [[bronze]] (Pomponius (Dig. 1 tit. 2 s2 §4) alone says on ivory), and posted publicly, so all Romans could read and know them.