English law has a lot in common with the law of Rome, not because Roman law was integrated into the law of England as it was on the European continent and in Scotland, but because, by sheer coincidence, English law still has a dual structure closely resembling the dual structure of classical Roman law. In Roman law, two distinct legal sources applied to practically all private law issues, i.e. the ius civile and the ius praetorium, statutory and customary law (ius civile) on the one hand and the law as created by a Roman magistrate, the praetor, (ius praetorium) on the other. In English law there is a similar distinction between Law and Equity, the Law, as administered by the Courts of Law, on the one hand and Equity, as developed in Chancery, on the other. There is, as a matter of fact, no better definition of the relation between Law and Equity in English law than the definition of the famous Roman lawyer Papinian on the relation between ius civile and ius praetoriumThe peculiar interaction between ius civile and ius praetorium shaped the law of Rome, as the interaction between Law and Equity did (and does) with English law. In this conference, the striking similarity between the external structure of classical Roman law and English law will be elaborated by emphasizing the differences and similarities in substantive law.There will be two historical introductions to the subject, to be followed by seven lectures focussing on issues of substantive law, such as security interests; the evasion of formalities in property law (bonitary ownership compared withequitable ownership/proprietary estoppel); rescission of contracts; the construction of contracts and unjust enrichment.