Web Activity Lesson Plans

Chapter 5: Rome and the Rise of Christianity, 600 B.C.– A.D. 500

Introduction
The Twelve Tables represent an early Roman attempt to form a system of civil law for a simple farming society. 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 12 Tables remain important today. Others would be rejected in a democratic society. This activity is an opportunity for students to place Roman laws within the context of principles with which they are familiar and to identify core values of the early Romans.

Lesson Description
Students will read a brief historical account of the Twelve Tables followed by the Tables themselves. Students will make a list of at least 10 of the laws contained in the Tables (most of the tables contain multiple laws). Students will then indicate the legal
principle(s) that they think the Romans were trying to apply in each of the laws they have chosen. Finally, students will describe how each of those principles applies in a democratic society.

Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to identify the laws early Roman legalists considered important for a stable society.

Students will be able to discuss the Roman history of many modern legal principles.

Students will be able to compare Roman laws with the legal principles of a democratic society.

Student Web Activity Answers

The punishment for defrauding a client is death.

Women were required to have a guardian because of their "levity of disposition." In other words, they were considered incapable of taking responsibility for themselves.

A person must be convicted before he or she can be put to death.

In addition to death, punishments listed at the end of the tables include fines, fetters, flogging, retaliation in kind, civil disgrace, banishment, and slavery.

Students' lists of laws will vary. In identifying legal principles, the goal is not for students to show legal expertise, but to demonstrate that they understand the basic purpose of each law. Once they have identified a principle, they should explain how that principle is implemented in a democratic society.