Roman law entered medieval political reflection in the late elev­enth century as the law of the universal Roman empire, an organization foretold by Old Testament prophecy as the last empire to rule the world before Apocalypse and hallowed by Christ himself who had lived under the Caesars.

It left the middle ages as a text beginning to radiate a different kind of universality: as a source of concepts and analytical categories relevant not merely to the history and contem­porary structure of the empire, but to all societies. In this transformation - palpable, although far from complete, by the end of the period — Roman law was unshackled from the one universal society of the Roman empire and began to furnish the conceptual means to analyse and explain the relations between rulers and ruled in kingdoms and other polities.

More on the topic Roman law entered medieval political reflection in the late elev­enth century as the law of the universal Roman empire, an organization foretold by Old Testament prophecy as the last empire to rule the world before Apocalypse and hallowed by Christ himself who had lived under the Caesars.: