How did codifying laws meet the need ancient societies?

Answer 1

Codifying laws was important to the citizens of many advanced ancient civilizations. One such society is the government of ancient Rome. This civilization is chosen as an example as many aspects of ancient Roman law are in part, integrated in modern European law.

A substantial part of the Roman civilization in approximately the 5th century BC, were the poorer classes called Plebeians. This group of Roman citizens were the workers and small farmers that helped sustain ancient Rome. Their grievances were many and one of the outstanding ones was unequal justice and harsh punishments for crimes.

The laws governing Rome were not written or formalized to the degree necessary in order to maintain itself, as unrelieved grievances only led to more civil unrest.

To solve this situation to the largest degree a 5th century society could be expected to do, came an end to aristocratic magistrates interpreting laws as they saw fit and in favor of the upper classes of Roman society.

As their numbers grew, so did their political power. They demanded a codification of Rome's unwritten laws to curtail the abuse by wealthy judges of making the unwritten laws favorable to their friends and the wealthy classes.

The result was called the written Twelve Tables of about 450 BC that laid the groundwork of other laws that would be needed to also be written. This helped balance the power structure of ancient Rome and thus met the needs of its time. In summation, the question of 'How" was a fair and written legal system to meet the needs of more equality.

Answer 2

Y