Savigny was the champion of the Historical School. He was against the quick codification of law in Germany, claiming that legal science had to develop further before codification could be achieved. In order to do this, Savigny advocated for the study of legal history in order to understand current law.

This volume, as the title indicates, aimed to explain current law through the lens of Roman law. The volume is part of a magnum opus used as a fundamental tool for those who undertook the monumental task of codifying the law in Germany. It has been widely circulated on both sides of the Atlantic for nearly two centuries now, serving as a means to disseminate the ideas of Savigny amongst codifiers and legal experts.