Ancient Rome and the lawyer for the defence.

• Author: Swanky, Tom

At several points in the school curriculum reference is made to the impact of ancient Greece and Rome on our own modern legal and political ideas, and on western civilization generally. This is even more the case in those provinces emphasizing history, and especially traditional history, as a point of departure in lesson planning. In a recent issue of Law Now, we touched on the trial of Socrates as the most common item likely to arise in a discussion of ancient Greece. In this issue, we use an example from ancient Rome as a backdrop for discussing some issues that arise for a defence lawyer.

Pre-modern Roman history is a vast topic, both in terms of its living legacy in modern systems and in its own evolution over long periods. School curriculums, however, seem most likely to visit the first century BC, and to mention Justinian's Code from the mid-sixth century AD. The first century BC is important because it features the transition from a republican form of government, one which has been much studied as an example for modern republics like the United States, to a period of imperial rule. It is the period made famous by Shakespeare, the period of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra, and the Roman empire as it was at the birth of Christ. Discussions touching legal items in first century BC Rome usually include some reference to the career of Cicero (106-43BC). Cicero served in many capacities during his public career, including that of judge and legislator, but his reputation in law arises from his being an lawyer for the defence in several high profile murder trials. Indeed, there is a sense in which Cicero is the prototypical lawyer for the defence as that character arises from time to time in our own systems, for example a Clarence Darrow, a Gerry Spence, or, in Canada, perhaps a Clayton Ruby. Justinian's Code might be the most common touchstone in brief historical treatments of the Roman legacy in the west. In a later issue of LawNow, we will provide teachers with more information about the Code, and some consideration of the phenomenon of codification. In this issue, we use Cicero to raise problems associated with being a lawyer for the defence.

In our LawNow treatment of the trial of Socrates, we referred to the Autumn 1997 issue of Heritage Post. In that publication, there was a discussion of the problem of making history come alive for students. The problem is one of assisting them to become more engaged with an historical topic, and the implicit issues in the topic which, sooner or later, will be relevant in their own lives. Kieran Egan, a professor of education at Simon Fraser University claims: "You can't just tell young children a bunch of facts. It has to be within a story context. Now the story doesn't have to be once upon a time or fictional, but it has to have a beginning, set up some kind of conflict, and be engaging emotionally. Nearly any historical content can be put into this context." (p. 21 and 22 of the autumn Heritage Post.) The following treatment of Cicero is presented in that spirit.

Cicero's Dilemma

In ancient Rome, there lived a man called Cicero. He was born about 106 BC and lived for 63 years. In his time, Rome was the centre of a growing empire. As the empire grew, so did the ambitions and desires of its leading families. These families formed powerful groups which competed for control of public offices. Public...