Essay by Dennis Kehoe
In this Essay, I will compare how this issue was treated both in classical Roman law and in nineteenth-century Louisiana law. As we shall see, although the Louisiana law of tenancy is based on Roman law, the treatment of this issue in the two systems could hardly be more different. The contrasting treatment of risk in agriculture confirms a hypothesis for my own work as a historian of the Roman economy: The classical Roman jurists were very much concerned with adapting private Roman lease law to an economy in which upper-class landowners depended on tenants with long-term leases who continually invested their own resources in maintaining the productivity of an estate.
About the Author
Dennis Kehoe. Professor, Department of Classical Studies, Tulane University.
Citation
70 Tul. L. Rev. 1053 (1996)