Masurius Sabinus
Despite coming from a family with no wealth, probably from Verona, in North Italy, Masurius Sabinus was one of the leading jurists of the first half of the first century ce and head of the school of jurists founded by Capito.
He was the first nonsenatorial lawyer Tiberius honored with the privilege of giving legal opinions based on the emperor’s authority (ius respondendi ex auctoritate Principis). A distinguished consultant and excellent legal teacher, Sabinus was one of the instructors of Cassius Longinus. Sabinus attained equestrian rank late in life, when he was about fifty. He probably never held a magistracy, and it was said that he relied on gifts from pupils for his financial support. His most celebrated work was his systematic treatise on civil law in three books, divided into four parts: inheritance, obligations, persons, and things. Late jurists such as Pomponius, Paul, and Ulpian wrote extensive commentaries to Sabinus’s treatise. He also wrote a commentary on the praetorian edict, a commentary on the writings of the jurist Vitellius, a monograph on theft, and a collection of legal opinions.Sabinus was pragmatic and antiformalistic, and more tied to tradition than his Proculian rivals. For him, legal interpretation should try to find a reasonable and well-argued solution in controversial cases rather than an airtight logical and technical argument. He did not hesitate to appeal to natural reason when necessary or to extend the scope of available legal remedies. For instance, Sabinus extended the concept of theft to provide a remedy for the winner of a competition against the unmeritorious holder of the prize who refused to hand it over, even though the winner was neither the owner nor the possessor (Ulpian, D. 19.5.17.5). Sabinus thought that intentions should prevail over words. According to him, for instance, a legacy of wine included whatever the testator thought should be included in this category, in accordance with the usage of men: that it should include not only wine but also vinegar, zythum (ancient Egyptian beer), and ale (Ulpian, D. 33.6.9pr).
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- APPENDIX