The history of legal procedures is hardly less than the history of the legal system itself. Roman law is no exception. Legal remedies so influenced the structure and evolution of Roman law that substantive law can be understood only from this procedural perspective. Roman jurists were more concerned about specific legal remedies than abstract rights. For this reason, Roman law is by nature and character a law of actions. Action (actio) is the right of suing before a judge for what is due to one. Actions are at the heart of Roman law, as writs are at the heart of medieval English law, rights are at the heart of American law, and Anspruche is at the heart of German law.