Ancient Law

How did law begin? Studying Roman law, the Hindu laws of Manu, the Old Testament and other early codes, Henry Sumner Maine argues that the earliest societies were made up not of individuals but of families ruled by a father, and that law was at first a matter of custom, religion and paternal power. His most famous conclusion is that the movement of progressive societies has been 'from Status to Contract', from relationships fixed by birth to relationships freely chosen by agreement.

Maine (1822–1888), a Cambridge law professor who later served as legal adviser to the British government in India, published the book in 1861, and it helped to found the comparative and historical study of law, as well as modern anthropology. Compare Engels's The Origin of the Family.