Tiberius Coruncanius

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Biographical Sketch

Tiberius Coruncanius was Roman consul with Publius Valerius Laevinus, and military commander in 280 BC. He lead an expedition into Etruria against the Etruscan cities. When Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Italia, and defeated the Roman legions of Publius Valerius Laevinus at the Battle of Heraclea, Tiberius' legions were recalled to Rome to bolster the defense of Roman territroy.

Coruncanius was of plebeian descent, and the first of that stratum to be elevated to the office of Pontifex Maximus. He was the first who publicly professed law (publice professus est), known to be both eloquent and full of knowledge. (George Long article, p. 655 of A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Anqiquities by Smith, William. John Murray, London 1875.) Like Socrates, he left no writings.

Impact

His public legal instruction had the effect of creating a class of legally skilled non-priests (jurisprudentes), a sort of consultancy. Over the stretch of time after Coruncanius' death, instruction gradually became more formal, with the introduction of books on law beyond the then scant official Roman legal texts. ("legal education." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 4 Mar. 2007 <http://secure.britannica.com/eb/article-9106475>.)

Modern Relevance

Pro

American Founding Father and Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, in his introductory lectures to the nation's first law school at the University of Pennsylvania, cites Tiberius Coruncanius as an example of a practicing attorney who obtained to the highest level of dignity in the state (pontiff) yet found nothing wrong in teaching law. [First Lecture, available at http://www.constitution.org/jwilson/jwilson1.htm]

Contra

But the reader should be cautioned that classical scholars such as George Long have advised that "[i]t must not... be assumed that Coruncanius was a professor of law in the modern sense of the term." (Long, p. 655.) The reason seems to lie in the separation of the Jus Civile from the Jus Pontificium. The origin of this separation lies in the Jus Civile Flavianum, which had the effect of granting plebeians access to the law - knowledge, practice.

Preceded by Lucius Aemilius Barbula and Quintus Marcius Philippus	Consul of the Roman Republic with Publius Valerius Laevinus 280 BC	Succeeded by Publius Sulpicius Saverrio and Publius Decius Mus