As it is tradition, each year the second issue of the electronic journal IUS ROMANUM is dedicated to the topic of the annual international scientific conference of the Balkan Association of Roman Law and Roman Legal Tradition - Societas pro iure romano (SIR). In 2023, the academic board of the University of Rijeka and its Faculty of Law hospitably opened the doors of Moise Palace in the historic heart of the old town on the Adriatic Island of Cres. The patrician residence dating back five centuries, which has been the centre of numerous scientific events of the University of Rijeka, welcomed the participants of the Eighth SIR Conference in an authentic environment, which is part of Croatia's protected cultural heritage. The unique setting of the elegant palace, equipped with the most modern facilities for academic interaction, was well suited to the topic of the conference - FEMINAE. The topic itself was spontaneously chosen at the end of the previous conference in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo, in September 2022, when the members of the Balkan Association, initially concerned with the current problems of war and peace in Roman context, decided to look for the positive and primordial origin of life in the topic of women - wives, mothers, priestesses, empresses, with her integral function of protector of the home and progeny.

For women in Antiquity and more specifically in Ancient Rome, there is a great deal of research devoted to various aspects of life in which women had their special place. They are as diverse as female nature and beauty themselves. The copious information in fiction, but also in philosophical, historical, and ethical writings, is further complemented by the norms and opinions of the Roman iurisprudentes on women, who, although placed in a characteristically masculine environment in Antiquity, had their own role not only within the family and the home, not just with a biological function, but also with a social, religious, and political one as well.

More than 70 academics and scholars from the Balkan countries, Poland, Italy and Spain were registered to participate in the conference. Holding it at the beginning of the academic year proved to be an obstacle for the attendance of some, but they sent video reports and articles for publication respectively. The main papers of the Eighth International Conference of the SIR were devoted to the Roman woman, defined with a huge terminological palette - femina, mulier, nupta, uxor, coniux, mater, matrona, filia, nurus, nepta, socrus, noverca, amica, matertera, virgo, puela, nutrix, vidua, peregrina, ancila, liberta, patrona, concubine to name a few, along with the denominations associated with the specific priestly offices, occupations and trades exercised by women. Alongside these were studies on the Roman legal tradition in the regulation of women's rights in medieval and modern law.