Pillars of Justice: A Comparative Study of the Basic Organs of Hammurabi’s Code and Roman Law

Abstract

This article offers a systematic comparative analysis of two foundational legal systems of antiquity: the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1754 BCE) from ancient Mesopotamia and the Roman legal tradition spanning the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BCE) to the Corpus Juris Civilis (534 CE). Despite separation by over a millennium and distinct cultural contexts, both systems addressed universal questions of justice, governance, social order, and punishment. The article examines how each civilization conceptualized law’s origins—divine revelation in Hammurabi versus human enactment and juristic reason in Rome—and how these foundational philosophies shaped legal institutions, social hierarchy, family relations, criminal justice, and judicial administration. While Hammurabi’s Code emphasized retributive justice (lex talionis), rigid social stratification, and the king as divine steward, Roman law evolved toward equity (aequitas), professional jurisprudence, and a civic conception of legal authority. The article critically evaluates both systems’ treatment of women, slaves, and subordinate classes, engages modern scholarly debates on legal formalism, authoritarianism, and patriarchal structures, and assesses their enduring influence on Western legal thought and contemporary jurisprudence.