Law and Justice in Caesar's Gallic Wars
![handle is hein.journals/hoflr33 and id is 581 raw text is: LAW AND JUSTICE IN CAESAR'S GALLIC WARS
Russ VerSteeg*
INTRODUCTION
Historians have written so much about Julius Caesar that it may
strike one as presumptuous to propose to add anything of value that is
novel today. The present study has a rather limited scope. My method
has been to focus on Caesar's own writing. In particular, using Caesar's
monograph on the Gallic Wars, De Bello Gallico, as a basis, this article
attempts to gain some insight into his thinking about law.'
We know that Caesar had a great deal of practical experience in
law. He studied law, pled a number of cases in the Roman law courts,
and held several positions that required him to apply legal principles.2 In
addition, legal questions significantly affected Caesar's political life and
his most important political decisions. In fact, in some respects, legal
questions dominated much of what he did in his life.3 Thus, it is clear
that he was well aware of the principles of practice, procedure, and
* Professor, New England School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts; A.B. (Latin &
Education) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Phi Beta Kappa 1979); J.D. University of
Connecticut School of Law (Magna Cum Laude 1987). Sincere thanks to Dean John F. O'Brien,
Dean of New England School of Law and the Board of Trustees who provided funding for this
Article with an Honorable James R. Lawton Summer Research Stipend.
1. Since Caesar did not write the last book of De Bello Gallico, I have omitted that text from
my study. See GAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS, Julius Caesar, in THE TWELVE CAESARS, § 56 at
34 (Robert Graves trans., 1975) (Hirtius, who finished 'The Gallic War', left incomplete by
Caesar, add[ed] a final book.). In order to keep this project manageable, it was necessary to limit
the scope of historical research. Therefore, for biographical information about Caesar, this Article
relies primarily on four biographies, two ancient and two modem: GAtUS SUETONIUS
TRANQUILLUS, Julius Caesar, in THE TWELVE CAESARS, 9-49 (Robert Graves trans., 1975)
[hereinafter SUETONIUS]; PLUTARCH, Caesar, in FALL OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC: Six LIVES BY
PLUTARCH, 243-310 (Rex Warner trans., 1976) [hereinaher PLUTARCH]; CHRISTIAN MEIER,
CAESAR: A BIOGRAPHY (David McLintock trans., 1995) [hereinafter MEIER]; and, MATTHIAS
GELZER, CAESAR: POLITICIAN AND STATESMAN (Peter Needham trans., 1968) [hereinafter
GELZER].
2. See infra part I.A.
3. See infra part I.B.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hoflr33&div=22&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Law and Justice in Caesar's Gallic Wars
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