- Video
Lockean Water Law versus Roman Water Law
How did the ancient Romans regulate water usage and ownership? Professor Richard Epstein explains how the Roman system differed from the property rights system developed by Locke. Locke proposed a first possession rule for water, similar to property rights for land ownership. His system presumed a hierarchy of individual usage, without regard to the consequences for the community at large. The Roman system, on the other hand, regulated water by a customary hierarchy of uses where each person could take the water they needed but no one could claim individual ownership. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JLmuepHtQ1M