<P> Roman law also denoted the legal system applied in most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century . In Germany, Roman law practice remained in place longer under the Holy Roman Empire (963--1806). Roman law thus served as a basis for legal practice throughout Western continental Europe, as well as in most former colonies of these European nations, including Latin America, and also in Ethiopia . English and Anglo - American common law were influenced also by Roman law, notably in their Latinate legal glossary (for example, stare decisis, culpa in contrahendo, pacta sunt servanda). Eastern Europe was also influenced by the jurisprudence of the Corpus Juris Civilis, especially in countries such as medieval Romania (Wallachia, Moldavia, and some other medieval provinces / historical regions) which created a new system, a mixture of Roman and local law . Also, Eastern European law was influenced by the "Farmer's Law" of the medieval Byzantine legal system . </P> <P> Before the Twelve Tables (754--449 BC), private law comprised the Roman civil law (ius civile Quiritium) that applied only to Roman citizens, and was bonded to religion; undeveloped, with attributes of strict formalism, symbolism, and conservatism, e.g. the ritual practice of mancipatio (a form of sale). The jurist Sextus Pomponius said, "At the beginning of our city, the people began their first activities without any fixed law, and without any fixed rights: all things were ruled despotically, by kings". It is believed that Roman Law is rooted in the Etruscan religion, emphasizing ritual . </P> <P> The first legal text is the Law of the Twelve Tables, dating from the mid-5th century BC . The plebeian tribune, C. Terentilius Arsa, proposed that the law should be written, in order to prevent magistrates from applying the law arbitrarily . After eight years of political struggle, the plebeian social class convinced the patricians to send a delegation to Athens, to copy the Laws of Solon; they also dispatched delegations to other Greek cities for like reason . In 451 BC, according to the traditional story (as Livy tells it), ten Roman citizens were chosen to record the laws (decemviri legibus scribundis). While they were performing this task, they were given supreme political power (imperium), whereas the power of the magistrates was restricted . In 450 BC, the decemviri produced the laws on ten tablets (tabulae), but these laws were regarded as unsatisfactory by the plebeians . A second decemvirate is said to have added two further tablets in 449 BC . The new Law of the Twelve Tables was approved by the people's assembly . </P> <P> Modern scholars tend to challenge the accuracy of Roman historians . They generally do not believe that a second decemvirate ever took place . The decemvirate of 451 is believed to have included the most controversial points of customary law, and to have assumed the leading functions in Rome . Furthermore, the question on the Greek influence found in the early Roman Law is still much discussed . Many scholars consider it unlikely that the patricians sent an official delegation to Greece, as the Roman historians believed . Instead, those scholars suggest, the Romans acquired Greek legislations from the Greek cities of Magna Graecia, the main portal between the Roman and Greek worlds . The original text of the Twelve Tables has not been preserved . The tablets were probably destroyed when Rome was conquered and burned by the Gauls in 387 BC . </P>

What was rome's first set of written laws called