Abstract

This contribution analyses the modes of transmission of legal knowledge in the Western Roman world from the moment when imperial authority ceased to exercise effective power over its western territories, mainly during the fifth century. It argues that while institutional forms of legal education rapidly disappeared after the beginning of this century, Roman legal culture did not. Instead, legal knowledge continued to circulate through non-academic channels, including administrative practices, documentary usages, ecclesiastical milieus and pragmatic forms of legal training connected to the exercise of power. Through a comparative approach, the study highlights both common patterns across the post-Roman West and significant regional variations between Italy, Gaul, North Africa and Spain.