CHAPTER XV
PECULIARITIES OF ROMAN LAW: THE LEGISLATION OF JUSTINIAN
The mutual relations of the members of a community
naturally fall into two divisions, that is, public and
private.[1] In the first we have to consider the activities of
the citizens politically, or with reference to the work of the
government or administration, which enacts, or sanctions
and enforces, the laws under which they live. In this sphere
of sociology the connection of the individuals with each
other arises only through their dwelling in contiguity within
some circumscribed area, and thus, while being obliged to
exist under the same human influences, they may for the
most part be personally strangers to each other. In this
department, then, the tie of natural affection, which originates
in blood or sexual relationship, or, perhaps, from friendly
association, is in general wanting. In the second category
the community must be regarded as consisting of an aggregate
of natural groups, that is, families, the members of which
are so intimately connected as to be affected at every moment
by each other's acts. Such groups in their mutual relations
are necessarily subject to the laws of the state; but in the
privacy of the family circle it is also essential that the in-*
- ↑ Pand., I, i, 1; Instit., i, 1.
