the Lex Hortensia: Roman Law as Descriptive of Micronational Law
31 March 2018 from 10:00 to 11:00am SLT
Neufreidstadt New Rathaus
I invite you to attend a brief lecture on a comparison between Roman law and the legal system of the CDS. How is it that the Romans passed four different laws, doing the exact same thing, on four occasions in one century without them never being repealed? The lex Hortensia, a Roman law recognising the legality of plebiscites (referendums passed by the plebs), was such a law and is the basis upon which Jochen Bleichen theorised about the Roman legal system and Roman law. Here, I will draw upon his distinction of general vs. particular laws and compare his distinction between "norm-making" and "particular" laws to the CDS's own legal tradition.
In this lecture, I will:
1. Explain the necessary background of Roman political history
2. Compare Roman legal history to a description of CDS law
3. Discuss micronations' place in broader academic discourse
4. Refer to anthropological terminology: etic vs. emic, redescriptive vs. descriptive
I plan for this lecture to begin 10 minutes after the hour and continue until about fifteen to ten minutes before 11:00am. This is a public history lecture, so no prior knowledge is expected.