Roman law shaped European legal reasoning more than actual rule content.

Evidence

This is not to say that European monarchs seized upon Roman law in order to impose it on their subjects. Because of the political fragmentation in Europe, rulers were rarely in a position to impose much law on anyone. In addition, societal changes had rendered parts of the Roman law obsolete—for example, those sections dealing with slavery. Other elements of the Roman law—for example, family law—were already dealt with by the Canon law established by the Catholic Church. As a result, the law that came to prevail in Europe also reflected local, non-Roman sources. Nevertheless, jurists and practitioners alike drew their conceptions of law, as well as their legal terminology and their approach to legal reasoning, from the tradition of Roman law. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 130

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Roman law provided the conceptual foundation for modern civil-law systems — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 142; European law drew its reasoning and terminology from Rome despite local sources prevailing — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 144; The common law is a method of reasoning rather than a fixed rule body — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 137 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The common law is a method of reasoning rather than a fixed rule body #exemplifies (0.88) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 137
• Western civilization continues to be influenced by the Roman Empire. #qualifies (0.75) — Stephen Kershaw, A Brief History of the Roman Empire, 1983
• The public-private law split originated in classical Roman law #complicates (0.74) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 776
• European codes imposed colonial-style uniformity on their own legal systems #expands (0.72)