ABSTRACT
The law under the monarchy and the early republic is usually referred to as archaic law because it was still in an early stage of development. In primitive Rome social life was regulated by a series of norms, the mores maiorum, which the Romans had inherited from their ancestors. Some of these norms were regarded as being of human origin, some as of divine origin, but there had never been any clear distinction between the two categories. Traditional Roman religion was not particularly concerned about the hereafter; it focused chiefly on the maintenance of good relations with all kinds of supernatural powers that were considered to influence human existence; for this purpose prayer meetings and sacrificial services had to be held in accordance with certain rites that were prescribed in great detail. Quite early on, however, at the end of the monarchy, the Romans began to distinguish between human and divine norms, but even then-and for the next 150 years or so-there was still some interaction between human law (ius) and divine law (fas).1
