One of the most significant works in Russian historical and legal science . The proposed book “Veche and the Prince” by the famous Russian historian and lawyer Vladimir Ivanovich Sergeevich (1832-1910) was presented by the author as a thesis for a master’s degree in state sciences. Sergeyevich for the first time established the correct scheme of the state structure of the ancient principalities Narodravstvo, or veka, turned out to be not only belonging to the northern trade republics, but a common form of life of all Russian lands, their ubiquity is clarified by the consideration of documentary evidence. Thus, the veche is an independent phenomenon in the ancient Russian social and state system, a phenomenon that was not created by the prince, but constituted the original form of being. The people and the prince are two equally essential elements of ancient Russian social life. On the one hand, the people cannot live without the prince, on the other hand, the main power of the prince is the same people? According to the author: «vecheval life was a phenomenon necessary in ancient Russia, and therefore universal» The prince, called an element of the township, did not yet have his own sufficiently developed instruments of control. This weakness of the prince's own forces naturally forced him to seek support in accordance with the people, put the people in the foreground? A remarkable feature of ancient Russian statehood Sergeyevich considered its contractual nature, according to him: “The history of princely relations is nothing but the history of treaties? Sergeievich associated the abolition of vechechny institutions with changes in ancient Russian public life, which made the people's assemblies unnecessary. From his point of view, an important role in the collapse of the vecheval system in Russia was played by the Tatar-Mongolian conquest .. The Tatars, he wrote, did not cancel the evening, but as soon as the center of state life moved to the Horde, the reasons for calling citizens to participate in public affairs disappeared. On the other hand, most of the Russian land by the repeated invasions of the Tatars was brought to extreme devastation, the level of public welfare was greatly reduced, and the cities, which were subjected to almost periodic devastation, were not up to discussion about common affairs? In 1868, Sergeyevich’s work was awarded the Uvarov Prize of the Imperial Academy of Sciences .. As noted in the review of the academician A. F. Bychkova: ?Until now we did not have such a detailed and conscientiously thorough study of the veche . Credit g. Sergeyevich is not so much in the collection of materials , how much in their strict grouping and in extracting from them that data, that shed light and life on our distant past? Characteristic features of this work are the richness of the collected data, Attention to the subject , clear and original explanation of many issues , It is related to ,. smooth and calm tone of presentation?. Recommended Literature:M. A. Deacons . Essays on the social and state system of Ancient Russia . M. Solovyov . On the attitude of Novgorod to the Grand Dukes. N. Leshkov . The Russian People and State