Alabama Social Studies SS24.8.2c

Social Studies8th GradeEffects of the Fall of Rome

The Standard

Analyze the influence of the Code of Justinian on modern legal codes.

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare a rule from Justinian’s law collection with a rule in a modern civil code. They explain how Roman legal ideas reached later codes through European civil law.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can identify a shared rule about contracts in Justinian’s law collection and the Louisiana Civil Code. They can explain that later lawmakers adapted Roman law rather than copying every rule.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think Justinian wrote all Roman laws himself or that his collection became U.S. law unchanged. They may treat a similar rule as proof that one law was copied directly from another.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Compare these paraphrased rules: Justinian’s collection says lawful agreements bind the parties; Louisiana law says contracts have the effect of law for the parties. Name the shared idea and one way an older law collection could shape a later code.

Lesson moves

Give pairs printed cards with paraphrased contract rules from Justinian’s collection and Louisiana law, then have them match the shared ideas.
Ask students to write two sentences answering: Does a shared contract rule prove Louisiana copied Justinian directly? Why or why not?
Run a matching game with three Roman legal rules, three modern rules, and one unrelated distractor.
Present a signed bike-sale agreement between two adults and ask how contract rules in both law collections would apply.

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