Roman foundations of european law Pergami Roman Forum Sunset at the Roman Forum Rome, Italy Benson Kua Flickr File:Roman Empire 39BC sm.png Wikimedia Commons msk amfitetr (Ammn) Wikipedie Rome Italy Ancient Free photo on Pixabay. The Roman Foundations of European Law aim to highlight the influences that Roman legal experience has had on modern law, in particular on the common European experience, whose legal foundations, both in private and public law, have historical, systematic, conceptual, and even linguistic, semantic and lexical roots in the works of Roman jurists, in the systems of both civil and common law. Modern legal science has in fact shaped its own conceptual categories for their interpretation and practical application based on the hermeneutical principles developed by Roman jurisprudence, while the legal experiences of modern legislative systems traditionally rely on reflections of that jurisprudence. In this regard, the famous Goethe's metaphor is emblematic: concerning the role played by Roman law in the European legal tradition, he wrote that he had the impression of facing an undying institution, which, like a duck diving into the water, disappears from time to time but is never entirely lost and sooner or later resurfaces in all its vitality.