Did Palestinian Rabbis Know Roman Law? Methodological Considerations and Case Studies

Hezser, Catherine

Abstract

Palestinian rabbis of the first four centuries lived in an environment in which Roman law was practiced and Roman law schools existed. They would have
been aware of Roman legal practices through hearsay, observation, and everyday life experiences. Palestinian rabbinic texts from the Mishnah to the Talmud Yerushalmi show striking similarities between rabbinic halakhah and Roman law in many legal areas. On the basis of theoretical considerations and case studies from shipping law, slavery law, and family law this paper investigates whether and to what extent rabbis can be expected to have known Roman law. In which areas of law are similarities most likely and how can the relationship between rabbinic and Roman law be explained?

Citation

Hezser, C. (2021). Did Palestinian Rabbis Know Roman Law? Methodological Considerations and Case Studies. In K. Berthelot, N. Dohrmann, & C. Nemo-Pekelman (Eds.), Legal Engagement. The Reception of Roman Law and Tribunals by Jews and Other Inhabitants of the Empire (303-322). École française de Rome. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.efr.9843

• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 3, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2121
• Pages: 303-322
• Series Title: Collection de l'École Française de Rome
• Series Number: 579
• Series ISSN: 0223-5099
• Book Title: Legal Engagement. The Reception of Roman Law and Tribunals by Jews and Other Inhabitants of the Empire
• ISBN: 9782728314645
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.efr.9843
• Keywords: Roman Palestine, rabbis, jurists, business, shipping, slaves/slavery, marriage, family, property, document, jettison, Romanisation, court, archive, ownership, peculium, mancipatio, women, fraud, ketubbah.
• Publisher URL: https://books.openedition.org/efr/9843?lang=en