The Twelve Tables: Guided Notes and Worksheet

Hierarchy in the Government of the Roman Republic: The Roman Legionnaire THE Twelve Tables In 451 B.C.E., plebian pressure led to the creation of a special committee of ten men who were responsible for codifying Rome’s laws and making them public. The TWELVE TABLES were the first laws of the Roman Republic. They were publicly displayed in the Forum, and outlined a basic list of personal rights and procedures. By hanging the Tables in public, the plebeians hoped that they could restrict the arbitrary (whatever the Patrician’s wanted) power of the patrician magistrates who alone had access to the laws The Twelve Tables represent the first formal set of Roman laws and customs. The laws dealt with legal procedures, debt, family relations, property and other matters of public and religious law. They were very similar to our Bill of Rights (in the beginning of the U.S. Constitution.) One difference was that they also included penalties and strict procedures in specific situations. The Twelve Tables was one of the fundamental (important) texts memorized by Roman schoolboys. The code was inscribed on clay, then bronze plaques. Historians have only found fragments of the tables, but these fragments provide much information about early Roman life and values. Many of the principles covered in the Twelve Tables remain important today. The Twelve Tables were: _______________________________ _______________________________ They were: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Similar to the ____________________________ Included ________________________________ Memorized by ____________________________ The Twelve Tables form the _______________ _______________ and the centerpiece of the _______ ________ ______________ Significance? They’re the first thing in history that even resembles a ______________ Or ___ ______________