Celsus the Younger

Having the same name as his father and, like his father, leader of the Proculian School, Publius Iuventius Celsus was praetor in 106 or 107 ce, twice consul (the date of the first time is unknown, but the second time was in 129 ce), governor of the provinces of Thrace and Asia, and a member of the advisory legal council (consilium Principis) of Emperor Hadrian.

A prolific writer, Celsus the Younger cultivated a concise and elegant style, coining famous legal maxims, including “law is the art of the good and the fair” (D. 1.1.1pr.); “to know the laws is not just a matter of sticking to their words but a matter of grasping their force and purpose” (D. 1.3.17); “it is not proper to judge or to counsel based on a particular part of the statute, without taking into consideration the whole statute” (D. 1.3.24); and so on. Celsus was a man of independent mind and choleric character (Plinius, Epistulae 6.5.), and the beginning of his strong answer to his client Domitius Labeo became famous: “Either I do not understand what you are saying, or your inquiry is very stupid” (Celsus, D. 28.1.27). Celsus’s most celebrated work is the Digest, a collection in thirty-nine books of case discussions in accordance with the praetorian edict. More than 140 extracts of this work can be found in Justinian’s Digest.