COMPROMISSUM

Definition

A Roman and civil law term for a formal submission to arbitration. A compromissum was the agreement by which two parties committed a dispute to the decision of a private arbitrator (arbiter), binding themselves to accept the outcome. The term captures both the act of mutual submission and the instrument recording it. The maxim attached to it — compromissum ad similitudinem judiciorum redigitur — holds that a compromise is brought into affinity with judgments, meaning a properly executed arbitral submission carried quasi-judicial weight.

Common Confusion

Compromissum is not synonymous with "compromise" in the modern English sense of a negotiated concession or settlement between parties. A compromissum does not resolve the dispute directly; it delegates resolution to a third party. Researchers who encounter the Latin term in historical sources and assume it describes a bilateral settlement agreement will misread the text. The procedural posture is closer to what modern law calls a submission agreement in arbitration than to a settlement or accord.

Why It Matters in Research

Compromissum appears almost exclusively in civil law and Roman law contexts. Researchers working in Louisiana sources, historical Spanish or French colonial materials, or comparative law treatises will encounter it frequently; those working in common law sources will encounter it rarely and usually only in learned digests or treatises drawing on Roman authority. The maxim compromissum ad similitudinem judiciorum redigitur carries doctrinal weight beyond the surface definition. It was used to argue that arbitral awards made under a formal compromissum should be treated with the finality of a court judgment — a point of live controversy in early American courts, particularly in civil law jurisdictions. Strong v. Strong, 9 Cush. 571 (Mass. 1852), cited in Black's 2nd edition, demonstrates that even common law courts occasionally reached for this Roman formulation when addressing the enforceability of arbitral submissions. Researchers should note that Burrill's entry appears corrupted in the surviving source — the text breaks off into a passage about compurgators, which is unrelated. Do not rely on Burrill for substantive content on this term; the Black's and Rapalje & Lawrence entries are the operative sources. The term also anchors a cluster of related civil law arbitration vocabulary. A researcher who finds compromissum in a historical source should expect nearby references to arbiter (the private judge chosen under the submission), compromissarius (the arbitrator so designated), and receptum arbitri (the arbitrator's acceptance of the appointment). Understanding compromissum as the foundational submission instrument clarifies the procedural chain that follows it.

Historical Dictionary Support

All four source dictionaries define compromissum consistently as a submission to arbitration, with no meaningful divergence on the core meaning. Black's (both editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence are in full agreement. Black's 2nd edition adds the case citation to Strong v. Strong and presents the maxim with greater formality. The historical dictionaries do not address the distinction between a compromissum and a modern arbitration agreement, nor do they explore the civil law procedural consequences of the submission in any depth. They treat the term as a Latin gloss on arbitration and move on. Researchers needing the full doctrinal texture of the Roman institution will need to go beyond these dictionary sources to civil law treatises — Pothier's works on obligations or Domat's Civil Law are the natural next stops in that tradition. The maxim quoted in Black's — compromissum ad similitudinem judiciorum redigitur — is a genuine Roman law formulation, traceable through the Digest, and its appearance in an 1852 Massachusetts case illustrates how civil law concepts percolated into common law arbitration doctrine during the nineteenth century.

Jurisdictional Note

Compromissum is a term of civil law lineage. It carries doctrinal significance primarily in Louisiana and in historical sources from jurisdictions with Spanish or French civil law heritage. Common law jurisdictions absorbed the underlying concept of submission to arbitration through different terminology and statutory frameworks, and the Latin term itself has no operative role in modern American common law practice.

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