The Novels

After the publication of the revised Code (534), Justinian’s legislative activity continued unabated as political and social developments necessitated changes in the law unforeseen by earlier legislation.

Before the end of Justinian’s reign, over 150 ‘Novels’ (the name of the new imperial laws deriving from Novellae leges) were enacted with the great majority dating from the period prior to Tribonian’s death in 546. Although most of these laws addressed matters of administrative and ^{^[108]}^{^[109]}

ecclesiastical law, Justinian also introduced important innovations in certain areas of private law such as family law and the law of intestate succession. He intended to officially collect and publish these laws as part of a new edition of the Code, but this never happened. Knowledge of them derives mainly from three later compilations based upon a few private and unofficial collections produced during and after Justinian’s reign.

style='text-indent:18.0pt'>The oldest compilation of Novels is the so-called Epitome Iuliani, an abridged version of a collection of 124 constitutions dating from the period 535-555. It was probably intended for use in Italy, as indicated by the fact that the Greek constitutions it contains were translated into Latin.^{^[110]} Another work, also written in Latin, is the Authenticum (or liber Authenticorum) that existed as an anonymous collection of 134 constitutions originating from the period 535-556. Irnerius, a member of the School of the Glossators (eleventh to thirteenth century), regarded it as an authentic official collection of Novels ordered by Justinian for use in Italy (hence its designation as Authenticum). However, the prevalent view today is that Irnerius was mistaken and that the work is most likely a poor translation of a so-called kata podas (a teaching aid used in the law schools of the East).^{^[111]} The most complete collection of Novels is the so-called Collectio Graeca, consisting of 168 constitutions issued in Greek by Justinian and his successors Justin II (565-578) and Tiberius II (578-582).

It seems to have been published after 575, probably during Tiberius’ reign, and survives through two manuscripts originating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Although the Collectio Graeca was prevalently used in the Byzantine East, it was apparently unknown in Western Europe until the fifteenth century. It was introduced in Italy by Byzantine scholars who fled there after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks (1453) and brought to light by the humanist scholars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Collectio Graeca furnished the basis for the modern standard edition of the Novels produced by R. Scholl and G. Kroll in 1895.^{^[112]}

The Code, the Digest, the Institutes and the Novels constitute the bulk of Justinian’s legislative work. All four compilations together constitute the material known as Corpus Iuris Civilis. The latter phrase did not originate in Justinian’s time; it was coined by Dionysius Godofredus (1549-1622), author of the first scholarly edition of Justinian’s codification (1583).

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Source: Mousourakis G.. Fundamentals of Roman Private Law. Springer, 2012.— 366 p.. 2012

The Novels

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