Excerpt from Historical Introduction to the Private Law of Rome IN preparing a new edition of this book my principal Object has been to supplement the author's notes by references to the most recent authorities, viz. To such works of importance dealing with the history of Roman Law as have been published since the date of the first edition, and have come within my reach. NO alteration has been made in the text, except by way of correcting a few verbal inaccuracies. Neither has any attempt been made to critically examine certain theories propounded by the author regarding primitive Roman institutions, such as the origin and effects of mancipation and nexum, even where I might not be disposed to accept all his conclusions. To have done so in detail would have swollen the notes and increased the size of the book to an inconvenient extent. It must always be kept in view that our knowledge of early Roman customs, at least till after the XII. Tables, cannot be based upon historical evidence it is almost entirely conjectural, and different writers will take different views according to the value they attach to this or that piece of presumptive evidence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.