ABSTRACT
As a preliminary, let me briefly summarise Roman provincial jurisdiction as discussed so far (Chapters 4 and 8). First, there are the practical limits of time and space on a governor’s jurisdiction, to some extent relaxed by the presence of a legatus who could deputise for him in certain cases, and less severe than is sometimes thought, if we accept that a governor in civil cases normally acted as a magistrate in Rome would have done – accepting or rejecting the suit initially, defining the issue in a formula and remitting it to a judge or judges for judication. The second main feature is the recognition of the importance of local jurisidiction. In a comparatively few ‘free’ cities, the independence of the local jurisdiction was specifically established by senatorial decree. Otherwise it seems to have been normal for matters involving local residents who were not Roman citizens to be judged locally, even if there was a preliminary hearing by a Roman magistrate and this magistrate might decide to take over a case himself or use a Roman court. Third, there is this pervasive authority of the governor, summarised in his edict, which was fundamentally articulated in the forms of Roman law and included much of its substance as well.
