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The Decemviri of Rome

About The Decemviri of Rome

The Twelve Tables were drawn up in 451–450 BC by a board of ten men, the decemviri, appointed by the Roman Republic to write down the city's laws. Roman tradition, reported by Livy, held that envoys first studied the laws of Greek cities, including Solon's at Athens. The best-known decemvir is Appius Claudius.

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The Twelve Tables

The Decemviri of Rome

c. 451–450 BC · Ancient · Political Theory

The Twelve Tables were the first written law of Rome. According to Roman historians, the common people, the plebeians, complained that the patrician magistrates who judged cases kept the law secret and applied it as they pleased.

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