4.1.13 to 4.1.15

(12) Actions were brought in five ways under the ancient form of judicial procedure, and were called Sacramentum, Judicis Postulatio, Condictio, Manus Injectio, Pignoris Capio . [1] (13) The action Sacramentum was a general one, for where no provision was made by the law in any other way for bringing suit with [1] The legis actiones were the earliest forms of judicial procedure known to the Roman law for the collection of claims and the enforcement of obligations. As will be observed, they are of a very primitive character, and it is surprising, when taking into consideration the wonderful progress of the Roman people in intelligence and knowledge, that these antiquated and cumbersome methods survived for so long a period. They were based upon the Twelve Tables; upon customs which, by continuous usage, had acquired full legal authority; upon the decision of the various popular tribunals; and upon statutes which were passed from time to time either for the purpose of explaining or confirming obscure or disputed points of ancient jurisprudence, that is, what was ordinarily designated the Civil Law. The extreme nicety with which the established forms were required to be observed, and which, if neglected in the slightest particular, caused the litigant to irretrievably lose his case, forcibly recalls the technical accuracy demanded by the old system of Common Law pleading that, for generations, exercised to the utmost the legal ingenuity and skill of the English practitioner. The equitable jurisdiction of the Prætor was expressly devised to remedy the abuses and relieve the distress to which rigid adherence to the rules of the legis actiones constantly gave rise. This innovation was deplored by the eminent jurisconsults of Rome, who regarded any change introduced into the existing judicial procedure as unnecessary, dangerous, and revolutionary; an example which was subsequently followed to the letter by the lawyers of England upon the establishment of the Court of Chancery, of which the Prætorian Tribunal was the prototype.