Whence “iudex non calculat”? Research Competition 2024 in History of Language and Law
Seventy-five years ago, US professor Curt Gruneberg described “an old Roman proverb” supposedly “indicating the general dislike of Roman jurists against determining amounts by way of mathematical processes.” This proverb was “Iudex non calculat” – “a judge does not calculate.” Like other writers before and after 1949, Gruneberg failed to cite a source for this supposedly ancient maxim. In fact, even today there is no known reference to “non calculat” in any source before 1850. Or is there?
The Professorship for Legal Linguistics at the Wiesbaden University of Business and Law (EBS Law School) holds the 2024 research competition to crowd-source the oldest available reference to “non calculat.” Early career researchers and anyone else interested in legal language or history are invited to submit digitized primary sources (written or printed, published or not) containing the exact phrase “(i/j)udex non calculat” prior to 1850. The three oldest sources each win (fame and) a book prize.
The deadline to submit answers to Prof. Dr. Dr. Hamann, JSM, is Sunday, June 20, 2024. The first, second, and third prizes are a book of your choice and an official award letter.
