Writing introductory volumes is a difficult task, requiring the skill to condense the essential from an essentially limitless mass of material and to present it in a way that a student can understand. At the same time, one should aim to make the substance rich and entrancing, making the students want to know more and to immerse themselves in the subject matter.

In his new textbook on Roman law D. has set out to provide ‘an accessible introduction to Roman law students of any legal tradition’ (p. viii). This innocent-sounding statement reveals one of the major challenges he is facing: what actually is Roman law? Since the first textbook of Roman law that has been preserved for us, the mid-second century ce Institutes of Gaius, Roman law has usually been taught as the law of the land, introductory texts being aimed at first-year law students. For roughly two millennia, this idea of Roman law as the foundation of contemporary law persisted, but as national legal systems have been distancing themselves from the Roman foundation, the need for a specifically Roman introduction has diminished. As a result, introductory books to Roman law have become more and more nationalised, seeking to present links to each national legal tradition, pointing out where Roman law rules were incorporated in legislation and into the jurisdiction of supreme courts.

At present, the market for English-language introductory volumes is largely held by P.J. du Plessis, whose Borkowski's Textbook on Roman Law (editions 2015, 2010 and 2005) and Studying Roman Law (2012) cater to both British law students and students of Classics and ancient history, but older textbooks by B. Nicholas and others have also been used in the law curriculum. In contrast, continental textbooks, such as L. Waelkens's ‘Amne Adverso’. Roman Legal Heritage in European Legal Culture (2015), have a more profound emphasis on the later influence of Roman law within the European legal tradition. On a different note, writing more for ancient historians and Classicists, A.M. Riggsby's Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans (2010) explores the position of law in the ancient world and the everyday life of the Romans. In terms of volume, Roman law is mainly taught in Germany and Italy, where classic textbooks like M. Kaser are used with innumerable newer volumes.

How does D., then, live up to his claim of serving all students from all traditions equally? The book, as many textbooks do, emerges from a long career teaching Roman law in Spain and the US. It does not presume much in the form of preliminary knowledge, nor does it demand a working knowledge of Latin or Greek. The book is divided into two parts, ‘Roman Law in its Historical Context’ and ‘Roman Law in Action’, meaning the substance of law. The first part outlines the Roman ideas of law, the significance of Roman law in history, the emergence of law in the Roman state, the legal profession and legal literature. Justinian and the compilators are described, as is the subsequent impact of Roman law on European history. The second part, the substance of law, is divided into procedural law, family law, the laws of property, succession and obligations. Typically of the peculiar structure of Roman law, criminal law is absent per se, but the second part of the law of obligations is devoted to delicts, private wrongs that were the legal responses to many offences that would in modern systems fall under criminal law. This division is fairly traditional, but works in the pedagogical sense. There are direct references to Roman sources in the text, which is very good, and each chapter comes with a bibliography of works in English, with some of the major works in other languages mentioned as well. This is a workable solution to the issue that most of the contemporary works in Roman law are either in German or Italian.

In practice, the division means that the book has one part that is historical and one part that is dogmatic. The historical part is a lucid and very informed outline of the two and half millennia of history of Roman law from the ancient Romans to the modern era, presenting both constitutional developments and the beginnings of jurisprudence. For a student, this is quite helpful, but the tendency to bring name after name of significant scholars may prove to be exhausting. In the dogmatic part, there is a strategy of briefly outlining the topic, such as property, and then going through the different legal institutions in turn. While there has been an extensive debate in recent years about whether to teach the law in books or the law in action, D. in this case is clearly outlining ancient Roman doctrine, despite the title promising the law in action. This is perhaps the part where one needs the stubborn tenacity of the law student. Subtitles such as ‘Interdictal protection of possession’ or ‘Emphytesis and superficies’ demonstrate that one is in deep legal territory, but luckily for the student these terms are all explained. The downside of the very condensed nature of the book is that there is little space to explain the connections between the legal institutes and how they formed a whole. What is more of an issue is that while the soul of Roman law, at least to this reader, are the cases and the working of legal issues to find solutions, the present volume dispenses with examples of these apart from a few exceptions. This is understandable due to the constraints of space, but a shame for the reader and the student.

Finally, there is the issue of readership. The book is a solid and informed introduction to Roman law as it is now read and taught. In the historical and dogmatic sections, there are some odd choices that will raise eyebrows here and there, although colleagues from different traditions of Roman law will find different things objectionable, but the bigger question is: who is this book for?

The field of Roman law is currently undergoing a rapid transformation. Law schools in Europe have, as part of their turn towards pure contemporary law, abolished chairs in Roman law. On the other hand, there has been a resurgence in the interest in the role of law in the ancient world in the fields of Classics and history. Out of these potential audiences, it is quite clear that this volume is aimed for the law market, seeking the intellectual connections and concepts from law schools.

This is a well-written work that condenses an immense amount of material readably to the law student audience. Like many textbooks, it is very traditional in its outlook and content, not making any bold moves either in framing the subject matter or discussing it (though at p. x, D. does mention issues such as slavery and misogyny). For an English-language introductory course on Roman law, this is a good book to assign to students, and it is clear enough for use as an exam book or as a first introduction to Roman law.