Tiberius Coruncanius

Tiberius Coruncanius

Tiberius Coruncanius (d. 241 BC) was Roman consul, and military commander in 280 BC-279 BC, who was known for his military contests with Pyrrhus (of "Pyrrhic victory" fame). He was the first plebeian Pontifex Maximus in the Ancient Roman Republic, and possibly the first Roman teacher of law.

Biography

Coruncanius, of plebeian descent, is believed to have hailed from Tusculum. [http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:oo-U8MDJVJAJ:www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199276073/resources/timeline/jurists_rep2.pdf]

He was first elected consul in 280 BC with Publius Valerius Laevinus, and led an expedition into Etruria against the Etruscan cities. When Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Italia, and defeated the Roman legions of Laevinus at the Battle of Heraclea, Tiberius' legions were recalled to Rome to bolster the defense of Roman territory.

In 254 BC or 253 BC, he was the first plebeian elected Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest of the Roman Republic, which position had been previously monopolized by patricians. He died in 241 BC and was succeeded by another plebeian briefly.

Impact

He was the first who publicly professed law (publice professus est), known to be both eloquent and full of knowledge. [ George Long article, p. 655 of "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Anqiquities" by William Smith. John Murray, London 1875. ] Like Socrates, he left no writings.

His public legal instruction had the effect of creating a class of legally skilled non-priests (jurisprudentes), a sort of consultancy. Over the stretch of time after Coruncanius' death, instruction gradually became more formal, with the introduction of books on law beyond the then scant official Roman legal texts. [ Unknown. "legal education." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 4 Mar. 2007 .]

It is possible that as the first plebeian Pontifex Maximus, Coruncanius allowed members of the public and students of the law of Ancient Rome to attend his consultations tasked with giving legal advice to citizens. These consultations were probably held outside the College of Pontiffs, and thus accessible to all interested. As such, he became the first teacher of Roman law. (How students of law learned their material earlier is unknown). [http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:oo-U8MDJVJAJ:www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199276073/resources/timeline/jurists_rep2.pdf]

Modern Relevance

"Pro"American Founding Father and Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, in his introductory lectures to the nation's first law school at the University of Pennsylvania, cites Tiberius Coruncanius as an example of a practicing attorney who obtained the highest level of dignity in the state ("pontiff") yet found nothing wrong in teaching law. [First Lecture, available athttp://www.constitution.org/jwilson/jwilson1.htm]

"Contra"But the reader should be cautioned that classical scholars such as George Long have advised that " [i] t must not... be assumed that Coruncanius was a professor of law in the modern sense of the term." (Long, p. 655.) The reason seems to lie in the separation of the Jus Civile from the Jus Pontificium. The origin of this separation lies in the Jus Civile Flavianum, which had the effect of granting plebeians access to the law - knowledge, practice.

References


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