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Twelve Tables

British  

plural noun

  1. the earliest code of Roman civil, criminal, and religious law, promulgated in 451–450 bc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The Laws of the Twelve Tables, Rome’s first set of rules dating back to 450 B.C., included instructions to make straight roads eight feet wide, stipulated what to do in case of water damage and decreed who “shall build and repair the road.”

From New York Times

Cicero's was the last generation that learnt the Twelve Tables by heart at school ut carmen necessarium; and Varro, Cicero's contemporary, was the first and perhaps the greatest of all Roman antiquaries.

From Project Gutenberg

The laws of the twelve tables prohibited the practice of this waste of gold.

From Project Gutenberg

By the laws of the twelve tables such enchantments were punished with death; and Numantina, wife of Plautius Sylvanus, was accused, Injecisse carminibus et veneficiis vecordiam marito.

From Project Gutenberg

In Rome, there were laws regulating the pomp of and display at funerals, dating from the time of the Kings; but especially are such laws to be found in the twelve tables.

From Project Gutenberg