Abstract

The paper reconstructs the contribution of an important historian of Roman law, setting it against the academic school to which she belongs. The elements of convergence and the differences vis à vis her Master Orestano are explored. Franca De Marini Avonzo was a highly distinguished researcher. She grounded her work on the personal selection and reading of the sources, claiming pluralism and relativism without preconceived choices of ages and themes. In her studies, especially bearing on the late antiquity, she built an elegant and original scientific style. In this framework, the paper deals with the very idea of «legal thought» and with the conception of «legal thought» propounded by De Marini.