Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/358

 CHAPTER XV

PECULIARITIES OF ROMAN LAW: THE LEGISLATION OF JUSTINIAN

The mutual relations of the members of a community naturally fall into two divisions, that is, public and private. In the first we have to consider the activities of the citizens politically, or with reference to the work of the government or administration, which enacts, or sanctions and enforces, the laws under which they live. In this sphere of sociology the connection of the individuals with each other arises only through their dwelling in contiguity within some circumscribed area, and thus, while being obliged to exist under the same human influences, they may for the most part be personally strangers to each other. In this department, then, the tie of natural affection, which originates in blood or sexual relationship, or, perhaps, from friendly association, is in general wanting. In the second category the community must be regarded as consisting of an aggregate of natural groups, that is, families, the members of which are so intimately connected as to be affected at every moment by each other's acts. Such groups in their mutual relations are necessarily subject to the laws of the state; but in the privacy of the family circle it is also essential that the in-*