Byzantine law during the period 867-1204

The accession to the throne of Basil I the Macedonian (867-886) marks the beginning of the most creative period in the history of Byzantine law after Justinian. What characterises the legislation of this period is a renewed emphasis on the Justinianic codification as the basis of the Byzantine legal system.

The first in a series of legislative works aimed at the general revision of the law was the Eisagoge, also known as Epanagoge, published under the authority of Basil I and his sons Leo and Alexander about 885. It contained a selection of laws drawn from Greek translations of Justinian's codification and consisted of forty titles and a preamble. In the preamble the Ecloga of the Isaurians was contemptuously discredited and abrogated as far as necessary.^[1316] A revised edition of the Eisagoge, known as Prochiron, was published in the early tenth century by Emperor Leo VI the Wise.^[1317] It was made up of extracts from Greek translations and abridgments of Justinian's legislation, fragments from the Ecloga and enactments of the Macedonian emperors amending and complementing the law.

As announced in its preamble, the Eisagoge was intended to serve as an introduction to a new, all-embracing code of law, originally known as 'Revision of the Ancient Laws' (Repurgatio veterum legumf Work on this project began under Emperor Basil I and was completed during the reign of his son, Leo VI the Wise, early in the tenth century. The original title of the new law-book appears to have been Basilica nomima (Imperial law), but in later years (from the eleventh century) it came to be referred to as Basilica. As stated in the preamble, the aim of this work was to gather together, update and bring into harmony the laws contained in the codification of Justinian. In it materials from the Code, Digest, Institutes and Novels are combined into one body of work and, although the sequence of the titles is somewhat different from that in Justinian's books, the contents are largely the same.^[1318] The vast majority of the extracts were drawn not from the original Latin text of Justinian's codification but from Greek translations and abridgments of later century jurists.^[1319] Only with respect to the Novels was the original Greek text used (probably taken from the Collectio Graeca, a collection of 168 constitutions published during the reign of Tiberius II in the late sixth century). Moreover, the text of the Basilica is accompanied by a large number of annotations (scholia), including interpretations, examples, explanations and references of various kinds; some of these comments are taken from the works of sixth century jurists (old scholia),^[1320] whilst others are derived from juristic works of the post­Macedonian period (new scholia).^[1321] The materials are arranged into sixty books divided into titles, paragraphs and themes.

In the years following the publication of the Basilica Leo VI issued a number of new laws (novellae constitutiones) of which a collection of 113 has been preserved together with four individual enactments. The majority of these were concerned with administrative and ecclesiastical issues, whilst only a few dealt with matters of private law. Some of Leo's novels were aimed at removing apparent contradictions between written law and established customary norms. From the closing years of Leo's reign date also the Eparchiakon Biblion, an official compilation of rules governing the operation of the various associations of businessmen, tradesmen and craftsmen of Constantinople {corpora}. Besides the official collections of law, a number of private works, largely legal abridgments or epitomes, were composed by jurists for practical use or for instructional purposes.

The revival of literary activity in the post-Macedonian period was facilitated by the establishment, about 1045, of a new law-school at Constantinople by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055).^[1325] The buraeucratisation of the imperial administration in the eleventh century increased the government's need for well-educated officials. In part because of this need and in part because of the inadequacy of the current system of legal education (advocates had to teach themselves or learn from private tutors) Constantine founded a school of law and laid down the conditions under which the professors and students should work. The constitution of the school specifically stated that no person could practise law until he had finished the prescribed courses and received testimony to his competence from the professors.^[1326] [1327] Admission to the school was open to capacity and students did not have to pay fees. The head of the school, who bore the title nomophylax^ as well as the professors (magistri) were appointed and paid by the emperor. Until the end of the eleventh century the teaching of law was based directly on the texts of the Justinianic codification, the contents of which were studied and explained step by step. In the twelfth century, however, the Justinianic codification appears to have been superseded in the study of law by various abridgments and commentaries. The law-school of Constantinople probably remained open until the capture of the city by the Latins in 1204.