Introduction. Until today, the prevailing opinion is that precedent did not play a significant role in the legal system of Rome. However, a number of sources, in particular the papyrus entries of judgement which record the provincial legal practice in Roman Egypt in the period from the 1st to the 3rd centuries, say otherwise. The significant role of precedent in the legal system of Rome is also evidenced with the texts of M. Tullius Cicero, M. Fabius Quinctilian, Pseudo-Asconius, G. Julius Victor. Theoretical analysis.
