What were Rome's courts like?

Answer 1

With many thanks to writer Caroline Lawrence, who studied this question in-depth for one of her novels and the subsequent BBC-series, the answer is as follows.

• The judge. Being one was not a full-time job, but one of the several duties of public officials, called either a praetor or a duovir. As in the USA today, he chaired the meeting, letting other parties (below) do the questioning and letting a jury decide on guilty/not guilty. If the verdict was 'guilty', he determined the penalty or punishment.
• The jury. Their number could run into the hundreds but it was often less. There was no fixed number. Only freeborn, upper-class men of independent means qualified for jury service.
• The prosecutor. There was no such thing as prosecution by the State. So a prosecutor could only be another citizen who had brought a complaint against you.
• The lawyer. There did not exist a class of professional lawyers. There were orators, often people from wealthy families, well-versed in public speaking who would defend you for free, seeing a case as an opportunity to show off their skills and gain in auctoritas, a word indicating a combination of authority, prestige and standing. If they were successful, they would of course expect their client to send them a present to show his gratitude
• The oath. This is a Christian concept; Roman witnesses did not swear to anything. Bribery of witnesses was common and just as today, the orator for the other party would try to do a bit of character assassination. Sometimes expert witnesses were brought in to be consulted by the judge, mostly people with knowledge of specific laws and customs, as in cases of disputes over a last will and testament
• The courtroom. Any place could be a court: it could even be in one of the parties' houses, but most cases were dealt with in the open air, like a market square. Occasionally a Basilica was used, a sort of covered market place
• The sentence. The most common one, even in criminal cases, was the fine to be paid to the injured party, or - had he been killed - to his family. Sentences to long prison terms were unknown, but you might be banished for a period to some far-away region or city. People in ancient times lived and died with their close connection to their city and family, and banishment may sound as a soft punishment today, but it wasn't . Corporal punishment was common, but was only applied to 'common' people.