Iuris Antiqui Historia. An International Journal on Ancient Law. 1. 2009

Juridical history is not only the natural remains of an enduring past, but is also constantly interpreted and restructured, just as every possible future development takes shape day by day. The past is a collection of data existing only as potential, for it assumes significance and value in the present only by its reconstruction and retelling, conditioned by the circumstances of our times. In the lavish and complex panorama of Italian and international publishing devoted to the history of ancient law, the new journal "Iuris Antiqui Historia, An International Journal on Ancient Law", published annually and soon to be accompanied by a series of monograph supplements, offers a place for the systematic publication of research of a historico-juridical nature, with an interdisciplinary orientation. It is also a place for theoretical reflection that examines the evolution of law in the Western world, in particular the role played by Roman law. While "the invention of Western law" was specifically Roman, as has recently been emphasisized, the idea of legality as a procedure that can measure every magnitude - ritualism, formalism, jurists and legal - for a world order that is realistic and open to hope, could not otherwise have taken root. Our present concepts, institutions and structures have not only survived unchanged to our day, but above all they provide an unparalleled technology for examining human relations, that could still effectively point the way to a balanced world order.