Legal Advocacy in the Roman World

. A. Crook here examines the role and significance of the advocate in the Roman legal system. Offering comparisons with modern legal practice, he addresses such questions as why Romans used advocates, what social function advocates fulfilled, and what conclusions can be drawn about a society that required litigants to have their cases presented by someone other than themselves. Crook first provides an overview of the general function of advocacy in both Roman and modern jurisprudence. In the light of the characteristically fierce rhetorical combat waged by Roman advocates, Crook compares the status of rhetoric in Roman times and today. He then considers differences between the legal orders of ancient Rome and classical Greece. Next, he explores evidence provided by the Egyptian papyri and discusses the treatment of advocacy in classical accounts, particularly in Quintilian. In conclusion, he surveys the historical record concerning advocacy in Rome. Introduction 1 I. The function of advocacy 13 1. Advocacy and legal orders 13 2. Rhetoric in modern discussions 17 (i) Proof (ii) Philosophy: La Nouvelle Rhetorique and other developments 3. Advocacy in present-day courts 26 4. Taking advocacy seriously 28 II. Prior Greco-Roman questions 30 1. For comparison: advocacy at Athens and in the Hellenistic world 30 2. The two Roman legal professions 37 3. The boundaries of the subject: the legal order broadly conceived 46 III. Advocacy in the papyri: the under-exploited source 58 Excursus: petitions and the 'Narratio' documents 113 vi Contents IV. Advocacy in the traditional material 119 1. The uses ofadvocacy to client and advocate 120 2. Usus iudiciorum, the practice of the courts 131 Excursuses: 1. Terminology 146 2. The advocate as 'representative' 158 3. The controuersiae 163 4. Quintilian 167 V. The historical record 172 Abbreviations 198 Bibliography 204 Index 220 J.a. Crook. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.