ROMAN LAW. The Romans did much for the world by their laws. They showed little regard for the rights of men captured in war and were cruel in their treatment of slaves, but they considered carefully the rights of free men and women. Under the emperors the lawyers and judges worked to make the laws clearer and fairer to all. Finally the Emperor Justinian, who ruled at the time when the empire was already half ruined by the attacks of barbarian enemies, ordered the lawyer Tribonian to gather into a single code all the statutes and decrees. These laws lasted long after the empire was destroyed, and out of them grew many of the laws used in Europe to-day. They have also influenced our laws in America. [Illustration: PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN VILLA IN ENGLAND Unearthed not many years ago at Aldborough. Such stones laid in the form of designs or pictures are called Mosaics] QUESTIONS 1. In the political strife at Rome what did the brothers Tiberius and Caius Gracchus try to do? 2. What did Julius Caesar do when a party of senators tried to ruin him? What was the result of his war with the other Roman leaders? 3. From what Roman word does "Emperor" come? What is the origin of the word "Kaiser"? How did Caesar die? 4. Who was Caesar's successor and the first one who organized the Roman Empire? 5. Why were the Romans such great builders of roads? How were their roads built? Do any traces of them still remain? 6. How did the Romans provide the city with a supply of pure water? 7. What was a Roman bath? 8. Were the Romans as famous as the Greeks for their buildings? Name the largest buildings in Rome. What was a basilica? Of what use were basilicas to the Christians later? 9. Do you remember the earliest form of the Roman law (Chapter V)? What did Justinian do with the laws in his day? Are these laws important to us? EXERCISES 1. What emperors are there now? Are they like Caesar and Augustus? 2. Find out if our roads are built as carefully as the Roman roads and if they are likely to last as long. What different kinds of roads do we have? Can any one in the room construct a small model of a Roman road? 3. Find out how water is now carried to cities. Are cities provided with great public baths like those of the Romans? 4. Ask a librarian or a lawyer to show you a copy of the revised statutes of your state. This is a code somewhat like the code of Justinian, only not so brief. [Illustration: TEMPLUM JOVIS CAPITOLINI (Medallion)] CHAPTER IX CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE