THE IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES AND POLITICAL EVENTS ON LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF CITIZENS OF ANCIENT ROME

Author(s): Nikitin А.N.

Rubric: Issues of theory and history of law

DOI: 10.21777/2587-9472-2026-3-7-11

Release: 2026-3 (51)

Pages: 7-11

Keywords: city-state, empire, patricians, plebeians, Roman people, law, common legal consciousness, Cicero, Ulpianus

Annotation: This article examines the causes and conditions of the growth of the citizenry of Ancient Rome, reveals the impact of demographic and political processes on their legal consciousness, and explores the relationship between the prescriptions of Roman private law and the political system established in the Roman Empire. The importance of the institution of citizenship in transforming the everyday legal consciousness of individuals inhabiting ancient city-states is demonstrated. It is revealed that Ancient Rome created a system that ensured unlimited growth in the authorized size of the armed forces. However, this process, combined with growing property stratification, led to a change in the political system and the loss of the legal dominants on which Roman legal consciousness was based. This article aims to demonstrate the extent to which demographic and political processes affect society’s legal consciousness and to identify the positive and negative factors of this impact. The author concludes that the uncontrolled population growth of Ancient Rome, combined with growing property stratification, led to a change in the political system and a distortion of public legal consciousness.

Bibliography: Nikitin А.N. THE IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES AND POLITICAL EVENTS ON LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF CITIZENS OF ANCIENT ROME // Journal of Legal Sciences. – 2026. – № 3 (51). – С. 7-11. doi: 10.21777/2587-9472-2026-3-7-11