Post-classical compilations of ius

The difficulties surrounding the application of ius were compounded by the fact that the manuscripts containing the works of the classical jurists were few and not easily accessible to legal practitioners, especially to those working in the provinces.

Furthermore, as a result of the general decline in the standards of jurisprudence and the 'vulgarisation' of legal thinking, lawyers found it increasingly difficult to handle and comprehend the language of the classical texts. In response to these problems a new type of juristic literature began to emerge consisting largely of compilations of assorted extracts from the works of the classical jurists. The purpose of these compilations was to make the classical works easier to understand and to facilitate their application by adapting them to the needs of the times. The authors of these works chose from the original texts those parts which appeared to them to be of interest to contemporary readers, whilst other parts were reproduced in summary form or were altogether omitted if they were thought to be useless or superfluous. Occasionally passages were replaced by others of the authors' own making or entirely new passages were added to the original texts. As a result of these changes classical texts were often distorted to such an extent that they no longer represented the views of their original authors, reflecting, instead, the 'vulgarised' legal thinking of the post-classical period.

Among the most important of the post-classical compilations of law is the so-called 'Vatican Fragments' {Fragmenta Vaticana), discovered in the Vatican library in 1821. This collection, which is probably the remains of a handbook for practitioners, contains extracts from the works of the jurists Papinian, Paul and Ulpian; it also includes a number of imperial constitutions (rescripta) dating from the period 205-372 AD and reproduced from the Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes.^{^[1160]} The texts are arranged under titles according to subject, each title being preceded by a note indicating the name of the jurist from whose work the materials have been taken or, if the text is a rescript, the name of the emperor who issued it.

Among the subjects dealt with at some length are sale, usufruct, dowry, gift and legal representation. This collection, although incomplete, is of great value for the study of Roman law as it contains materials that have not be included in other compilations or that can be found only in a greatly abbreviated form.^{^[1161]}

Another work of the same period, currently known as the Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum (or Collatio'),^{^[1162]} dates from the early fourth century AD. The purpose of this work appears to have been to compare some selected Roman norms, chiefly of penal character, with related norms of the Mosaic law in order to show that Roman law, in its basic principles, corresponded with, or possibly was based upon Mosaic law. Like the Vatican Fragments, it is divided into titles, each beginning with passages taken from the Old Testament and followed by extracts from the works of the jurists Paul, Ulpian, Papinian, Modestinus and Gaius, and various imperial constitutions from the Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes.^{^[1163]} The author of this work remains unknown, although the attempted comparison of Roman and Mosaic law suggests that he was probably of Jewish origin.

Two further collections of this period should also be mentioned here: the Sententiae of Paul and the Regulae of Ulpian. The first of these works, entitled Pauli sententiarum adftlium libri Kbut usually referred to as Pauli Sententiae, consists largely of brief pronouncements and rules attributed to the third century jurist Paul. It deals with a broad range of topics relating to both private and criminal law and appears to have been used as a handbook by legal practitioners.^{^[1164]} But there is no evidence that Paul himself ever composed a work under this title and it is now assumed that the Pauli Sententiae was produced by an unknown author in the latter half of the third century AD on the basis of Paul's writings.

This collection appears to have been very influential during the later Empire, as manifested by the fact that it is cited repeatedly in the imperial legislation of this period.^{^[1165]}Although the original text of the Pauli Sententiae has not survived, it has been reconstructed on the basis of extracts included in various post- classical compilations, such as the Digest of Justinian, the Lex Romana Visigothorum and the above-mentioned Collatio^ The Regulae Ulpiani, also known as tituli ex corpore Ulpiani, is believed to be an abridgment of Ulpian's work liber singularis regularutn, hence it is also referred to as Ulpiani Epitome?⁵ It was composed probably in the early fourth century AD and, like the Pauli Sententiae, it appears to have been intended mainly for practitioners. This work has come down to us, although in a fragmentary form, through a manuscript dating from the tenth or eleventh centuiy.^{^[1166]}title="">[1167][1168][1169]

Reference should also be made here to the Consultatio Veteris Cuiusdam lurisconsulti (or Consultatio')?¹ a work dating from the end of the fifth century AD and first edited by Cujas (Jacobus Cujacius) in 1577.^{^[1170]} This work, which was probably designed for instructional purposes, consists of a number of legal questions with the answers to them. It is based on Paul's Sententiae and materials drawn from the Gregorian, Hermogenian and Theodosian Codes.^{^[1171]}

From the eastern part of the empire have survived two important collections: the Syrio-Roman book of law and the Scholia Sinaitica. The first of these works was written in Greek by an unknown author and was published in the late fifth century AD, probably in Constantinople. It appears to have been intended for use in legal education. The original Greek text has not survived - we possess only translations of it in Syrian, Armenian and Arabic, dating from the eighth century. In the past it was believed that the law contained in this work was a mixture of Roman and Greek law. The current view, however, is that the law reproduced in the Syrio-Roman book is largely Roman in character.^{^[1172]} The work known as Scholia Sinaitica was written in Greek, probably between 438 and 529 AD, and was discovered in 1880 at the monastery of St Catherine of Sinai. It is a commentary on the work of Ulpian libri ad Sabinum and was probably written at the law-school of Beirut where it was used for instructional purposes. This work is important because it gives us a clear picture of the way in which law was taught at the law-schools of the East in the pre- Justinianic period as well as of the way in which the classical texts were approached by the post-classical commentators.^{^[1173]}

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Source: Mousourakis George. The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law. Routledge,2003. — 480 p.. 2003

Post-classical compilations of ius

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