The theme “Between Late Antiquity and Modern: Elements for a New Theory of Law” invites an analysis of the legal transformations that occurred in the transition from Late Antiquity to the Modern period.
The legacy of Roman law, which experienced an important season in Late Antiquity, laid the foundations for many modern legal traditions. Elements such as the concept of legal person, ownership and major contracts have profoundly influenced the theoretical construction of subsequent legal systems.
Moreover, as a result of the affirmation and consolidation of Christianity in Late Antiquity, the influences on modern conceptions of justice, morality and law were significant. The distinction between divine law and human law has created new legal paradigms.
The conception of law as an instrument of social justice and the importance of law for the maintenance of peace and public order, consolidated in modern thought, are also strongly rooted in the principles and, more generally, in the legal culture of Late Antiquity.
The contents of this Section are aimed at deepening the Roman tradition in the conviction that it represents an immense deposit of wisdom, in which ideas can be found for the elaboration of new juridical solutions, as adequate as possible to the needs, ever new and constantly changing, of a global society in perennial and rapid transformation.
The historical study of law, in this perspective, becomes valuable in order to relocate the living problems of the present in an adequate depth of field, necessary to focus on the central nodes of every legal question.
The analysis of the complex transition from Late Antiquity to Modern thus provides a solid basis for exploring and developing theories of law that integrate tradition and innovation, reflecting on the legal dimension and ethical, social and political values of different but closely related eras.