Latin for Lawyers
Your Instructor
Assistant Professor of History
University of Miami
I am a historian of economic, legal, and political ideas and institutions. I focus primarily on the early modern period (c. 1450–c. 1800) in Europe, where the influence of ancient thought is impossible to overstate.
What you'll learn
Learn the meanings of Latin phrases and maxims and develop tools to analyze their histories.
Discover the characteristics of the texts that gave rise to these phrases, including through their later interpretation.
Identify intellectual historical borrowings and commonalities between the common law and civil law traditions.
Discern and critique the argumentative strategies of legal writers deploying Latin abbreviations, phrases, and maxims.
Gain the confidence to use Latin elements in your writing.
Course Schedule
Most people quite appropriately think of Latin as the language of the Roman Empire. The majority of texts in Latin, however, were written after antiquity. Latin remained a crucial international language throughout the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, and in some technical fields--including the law--was only replaced by vernacular languages surprisingly recently, and incompletely. This lesson discusses the different periods in which legal texts were written in Latin as well as the characteristics of states and the legal profession during those periods.
What You Get
Live interactive sessions
Engage in real-time discussions with expert instructors
Small discussion groups
Up to 15 students for personalized attention
Session recordings
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Dedicated platform
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Frequently asked questions
Course-specific questions
Your Instructor
Assistant Professor of History
University of Miami
I am a historian of economic, legal, and political ideas and institutions. I focus primarily on the early modern period (c. 1450–c. 1800) in Europe, where the influence of ancient thought is impossible to overstate.