TWELVE TABLES

The earliest statute or code of Roman law, framed by a commission of ten men, B. C. 450, upon the return of a commission of three who had been sent abroad to study foreign laws and institutions. The Twelve Tables consisted partly of laws transcribed from the Institutions of other nations, partly of such as were altered and accommodated to the manners of the Romans, partly of new provisions, and mainly, perhaps, of laws and usages under their ancient kings. They formed the source and foundation for the whole later development of Roman jurisprudence. They exist now only in fragmentary form. See 1 Kent, Comm. 52a