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W. W. Buckland's highly regarded magisterial work of 1908 is a scholarly and thorough description of the principles of the Roman law with regard to slavery. Chapters systematically address, in Buckland's words, 'the most characteristic part of the most characteristic intellectual product of Rome'. In minute detail, Buckland surveys slaves and the complexity of the position of the slave in Roman law, describing how slaves are treated both as animals and as free men. He begins by outlining the definition of 'slave', their characteristics and conditions, giving examples of particular cases and describing for the reader the sorts of work a Roman slave might do. Carefully and comprehensively referenced throughout, this is a general survey of an important aspect of Roman law by a renowned Cambridge academic, which retains its status as an enduring classic

Roman Law and Common Law was first published in 1936. The second edition, entirely reset, revised throughout and supplemented by Professor F. H. Lawson, Fellow of Brasenose College and Professor of Comparative Law in the University of Oxford, appeared in 1952. This was done at the suggestion of Lord McNair, who read the revised copy. Professor Lawson's work of revision was extensive and touches every part of the book. In 1965 many small corrections were made. The book remains in this edition a 'comparison in outline'. It does not set out to be a comprehensive statement of Roman Law and Common Law comparatively treated, or a comparative study of legal methods. It is concerned rather with the fundamental rules and institutions of the two systems, and examines the independent approaches of the two peoples and their lawyers to the same facts of human life