Aemilius Papinianus

Papinian is the most famous jurist of Roman jurisprudence, posthumously becoming the definitive authority on Roman law. The Law of Citations of 426 gave him the leading position among the authoritative jurists (Paul, Ulpian, Modestinus, and Gaius) and the deciding vote when their opinions were equally divided on a particular point of law.

A celebrated lawyer of the Severan age, Papinian was a close friend and collaborator of Emperor Septimius Severus. Nothing with certainty is known about his origin. He was probably born around 150 ce to a family from Africa or Syria. He likely received legal instruction from Cervidius Scaevola. Assistant to the praetorian prefect, probably under Emperor Commodus, and chief of the secretary of petitions under Septimius Severus, Papinian was appointed in 205 ce to succeed Gaius Fulvius Plautianus as praetorian prefect. In that capacity, Papinian accompanied Emperor Septimius Severus to Britain in the military campaign of 208-11 ce. After Severus’s death in February 211 at Eboracum (modern York, England), Antoninus Caracalla removed Papinian from office. In 212 Papinian was executed by the orders of Caracalla because, according to one version of the story, he refused to compose an apology justi­fying before the Senate and the people the murder ordered by Caracalla of his youngest brother and co-regent, Geta, in December 211. Papinian’s legendary answer was, “To accuse an innocent man who has been murdered is a second act of murder” (Historia Augusta. Caracalla 8). For centuries, Papinian was regarded as a martyr of justice, and he was considered the pinnacle of Roman jurists. Modern researchers ordinarily rate him less highly, placing him third, after Labeo and Julian.

Justinian’s compilers recorded sixty-three books written by Papinian. His most celebrated works were casuistic: the thirty-seven books of quaestiones (legal issues) and the nineteen books on Digesta responsa (ordered legal opinions). He also wrote two books on definitiones (legal rules) and two works on adultery - one a monograph on Augustus’s legislation on adultery, and the other a two-volume collection of legal opinions on adultery. His style was concise but obscure at times, and his criticism of rival opinions was well- balanced and temperate. He always took into consideration the most elevated ethical values when he wrote.