Roman Law
European Legal History
European Private Law and
Comparative Law
Roman Law
Recent Publication
'The emperor Septimius Severus and the implied pledge of the fiscus. A perspective from Paul's Decreta and Imperiales Sententiae' in: V. van Hoof & R. Bobbink (eds.), Pragmatism in the Roman law of secured credit. Studies on the legal history of pignus and hypotheca, Den Haag 2025, 59-77. You can find (a picture of) the book here.
'Iulius Paulus' in the (somewhat prestigious) Oxford Classical Dictionary. It's an online publication, this is the DOI
News
- On 8 May 2025, Elsemieke Daalder gave a public lecture on the role of wealth in the imperial succession after Augustus at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. More information can be found.
- On 12 March 2025, Elsemieke Daalder gave a public lecture on the Romans and the rule of law (‘De Romeinen en hun rechtsstaat: over keizers, dictators en juristen’) at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden.
- On 17 November 2024, Elsemieke Daalder gave a lecture on the oratio principis in the Principate at Glasgow University.
- On 15 November 2024, Elsemieke Daalder presented a paper on the principle ‘codicillis hereditas neque dari neque adimi potest’ at the conference ‘Das antike römische Recht der Kodizille’, organized by the Käte Hamburg Kolleg Münster. A report on the conference can be found .
- On 4-5 October, Elsemieke Daalder co-organised the ‘An Empire of Correspondence’ at CU Boulder (Colorado, United States) with Zachery Herz, Serena Connolly and Matthijs Wibier.
Teaching (Winter)
Lectures
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Comparative Property Law (Einführung in die zivilrechtliche Rechtsvergleichung)
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Roman Foundations of European Private Laws (Römische Grundlagen und europäisches Privatrecht)
Course
Inaugural Lecture
On July 11 2025, Prof. Dr. Elsemieke Daalder delivered her inaugural lecture at the Faculty of Law at the University of Münster. The event, entitled "The Layers of the Law. Emperors, jurists and the question of gifts between spouses", attracted an international audience, including numerous guests from academia and legal practice.
In her lecture, Daalder explored several texts of the Roman jurist Ulpian on the prohibition against gifts between husband and wife in Roman law. In the first part of her lecture, she drew a comparative line to German and Dutch legal history, the latter of which, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, only abolished the prohibition in 2003. Her comparative analysis vividly illustrated the enduring relevance of Roman law in modern legal systems.
Daalder also aimed to demonstrate what the study of Roman law and Roman legal texts still has to offer when one is willing to cross the boundaries between disciplines. She explored how the emperor Septimius Severus used the legislative process itself to convey his vision for the future of the Empire and discussed the role Ulpian and his fellow jurists played in the autocratization process taking place during the Principate. In doing so, she shed light on the complex interplay between law, imperial authority, and legal scholarship during the Severan period, a focal point of her future research.
The text of the inaugural lecture will be published by the Dutch publisher WJS uitgevers and will be available at the end of 2025.
Abendgespräche
Im Wintersemester 2025/26: 5.11.25 mit Lisa Isola
Chair trip to Leiden
On the weekend of August 17 and 18, 2024, the chair team went on a trip to Leiden, the home town of Prof. Elsemieke Daalder. Some impressions in the feuilleton!
Junge Romanistentage
On Wednesday 12 June and Thursday 13 June, the annual meeting of the Dutch Young Romanists took place at the University of Münster. Further insights in the feuilleton!
Office opening hours
JUR 208A:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 2:20 p.m
JUR 421:
From July 17, 2023 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m Friday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The secretariat remains closed on Thursdays.
Outside these times, please send general inquiries by email to: fscholz@uni-muenster.de