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Abstract

There were no large capital associations in Ancient Rome, let alone business corporations with publicly traded shares. The high level of instability is one of the key explanations: Under Roman law, it was virtually impossible to commit capital for the long term and finance capital-intensive enterprises. The societas was inevitably liquidated following numerous dissolution events. The peculium came to an end when the commonly held slave died. While the societas publicanorum developed into a more stable institution over time, during the same period, its business almost disappeared. How can a modern reader make sense of the picture that emerges from the sources? The present chapter suggests that reservations in the social and political setting, rather than economic factors or oddities of Roman legal doctrine, caused business associations to remain small. This is an important lesson from history, both for the theory of the firm and for the role that law plays in it.