Development of Contract Form in Roman Law Illustrated by Stiupulation as a Verbal Contract

As the first and fundamental verbal contract in Roman law, stipulation (stipulatio) emerged and developed under the influence of various socio-economic conditions that shaped the development of the Roman state. Originating in pre-classical Roman law under the influence of religion and customs, this verbal contract was subject to changes, such as acquiring the characteristics of a written contract during the period of classical Roman law and experiencing the most significant changes during the period of post-classical Roman law. By observing and analyzing the development of stipulation as a verbal contract, we can observe several general tendencies in Roman law. Thus, we can eventually respond to the following question: how the strict formalism of Roman contract law gave way to the primacy of causality, i.e. how the process of transition from strict formalism to consensualism and the transition from the oral to the written form of contract conclusion took place.