The Novels

In the years following the publication of the second edition of the Code (534 AD) Justinian's legislative activity continued unabated as political and social developments necessitated changes in the law not foreseen by earlier legislation.

Over one hundred and fifty 'Novels' {Novellae constitutiones), as the new imperial laws came to be referred to, were issued, the majority before Tribonian's death in 546 AD. Although most of them pertained to administrative and ecclesiastical law, Justinian also introduced important innovations in certain areas of private law, such as family law and the law of intestate succession. The majority of these laws were issued in Greek, the language of business in the eastern part of the empire, some in Greek and Latin, and some only in Latin, especially those which were addressed to the western provinces of the empire or contained supplementary provisions to earlier enactments that had been composed in Latin. Although they were intended to be officially collected and published as part of a new edition of the Code,^{^[1291]} this never happened. What is known of them comes mainly from three later compilations based upon a few private and unofficial collections produced during and after Justinian's reign.

Of the three compilations of Novels that have come down to us the earliest one is the Epitome novellarum luliani, an abridged version of a collection of 124 constitutions from the period 535-555 AD composed during the reign of Justinian by Julian, a professor {antecessor) at the law school of Constantinople. It was probably intended for use in recently reconquered Italy, as indicated by the fact that the constitutions it contains were translated from Greek into Latin.^{^[1292]} The second collection, also written in Latin, contains 134 constitutions issued during the period 535536 AD.

It is uncertain when it was originally produced - it may have been made in the sixth century but the oldest manuscript copies date from the late eleventh or early twelfth century. This collection is known as the Authenticum (or liber Authenticorum), a name given to it by the Glossator Imerius (11th century) who regarded it as an official collection of Novels promulgated by Justinian for use in Italy after its reconquest. However, the prevalent view today is that Irnerius was mistaken and that the collection, which contains only the Latin Novels in their original text and the Greek ones in a faulty Latin translation, was prepared mainly as a teaching aid for

The Post-Classical Period of Roman Law 393 use in the law schools of the East.^{^[1293]} The most complete collection of Novels is the Collectio Graeca, a compilation of 168 constitutions issued in Greek by Justinian and his successors Justin II (565-578 AD) and Tiberius II (578-582 AD).^{^[1294]} It was published after 575 AD, probably during the reign of Tiberius II, and has come down to us through two manuscripts dating from the thirteen and fourteenth centuries. One of these manuscripts, which is kept in Venice, contains thirteen additional Novels (two of these can also be found in the other manuscript) which are referred to as Edicta lustiniani. This collection, which was used by the compilers of the Basilica, does not appear to have been known in western Europe until the fifteenth century - it was introduced there by Byzantine scholars who fled to Italy after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and was brought to light by the humanist scholars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.^{^[1295]}

The Corpus luris Civilis

The Code (Codex repetitae praelectionis), the Digest, the Institutes and the Novels make up the bulk of Justinian's legislative work. All four compilations together constitute what is known as Corpus luris Civilis. The latter term did not originate in Justinian's time,^{^[1296]} however, but was first introduced in 1583 by Dionysius Godofredus (1549-1622), author of the first scholarly edition of Justinian's work, in contradistinction to the codification of the canon law (referred to as Corpus luris Canonici).'^f,i

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

The Novels

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