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the power of the Emperor, though at first nominal-for he was styled Princeps Reipublicæ-gradually increased, till at length he became "the State." Indeed this result followed almost as a necessary consequence, after the Emperor had concentrated in himself all the chief offices. The supreme power, imperium, was vested in him by the lex regia passed at the beginning of each reign, by which the people delegated to him their absolute power. The Emperor expressed his will in various ways; e. g., by edicta, decreta, rescripta, and mandata, directions to officers.

Such is a short summary of the sources of the Roman law; and, looking to the variety of the sources, the lapse of time, the many revolutions, and the extraordinary development of the Roman state, we cannot be surprised that in Justinian's time the law should be voluminous and perplexed, or at the necessity felt for arrangement and codification. It must not be supposed, however, that immediately before Justinian's time direct reference was made by the judges to the text itself of the leges, the edicta, the senatus-consulta, and the plebiscita. For the Commentaries of the great jurists upon the text had in fact superseded the authority of the text itself; hence we are justified in saying that from the time of Constantine, the law consisted substantially of these Commentaries and the imperial Constitutions.

Now, as early as the year A.D. 306, Gregorianus, and A.D. 365, Hermogenianus, had made collections of all the imperial Constitutions; these codes, however, had no legislative authority. But in the year A.D. 438, Theodosius II. published a Code for the eastern and western empire, which embraced all the Constitutions of the emperors after Constantine, besides which he published certain Novellæ.

In the year A.D. 528, Justinian appointed a commission of ten jurists, with Tribonian at the head, to draw up a new Code, taking those we have mentioned and the Novellæ as the basis. In the month of April, 529, their task was completed, and a Code was published, by the effect of which all Constitutions, not included therein, were abolished, and every Constitution it did include was made applicable to every subject of the empire.

Having arranged the Constitutions, Justinian commissioned Tribonian, with sixteen others, to select extracts from the writings of the elder jurists, which they were authorised so to alter and arrange as to make them accord with the change of manners and the dictates of justice, the object being to exhibit in a systematic form a complete exposition of Roman law. One difficulty, however, at once became apparent. There were certain moot points upon which the schools of Sabinus and Proculus held contradictory opinions; to settle these, therefore, Justinian promulgated his Fifty Decisions (Quinquaginta

Decisiones). Relieved from this perplexity, Tribonian and his col leagues applied themselves to their task, and in the incredibly short space of three years (Dec. A.D. 530-533) published the Digesta, or Pandecta (general collection), into which, as the emperor said, omne jus antiquum collatum est. This Digest had the force of law (1).

But it occurred to the emperor, that, for a student, the Code and the Digest would be too voluminous; he therefore directed Tribonian, with Theophilus and Dorotheus, Professors of Law, the one at Constantinople, the other at Berytus, to draw up an elementary work, or Institutiones of Roman law. This, which followed the well-known work of Gaius, was not simply a book of instruction, for it was declared to have the force of law.

But Justinian, still unsatisfied with his legal reforms, directed Tribonian and four other jurists to revise the Code of 529, and to incorporate the fifty decisions. This revised Code (codex repetitæ prælectionis) was published, and obtained the force of law on the 17th Nov. 534. This is the Code we now have, but it should be observed that the Code of 529 is the one referred to in the Institutes, so that there are certain Constitutions referred to in it which are not to be found in the Code of 534.

Nor was Justinian satisfied even yet, for between the years 535 and 564 A.D., he published no fewer than 165 Novella Constitutiones, or new Constitutions, which were generally written in Greek.

Till the reign of Basil the Macedonian, A.D. 867, these compilations were considered law; but he reconstructed the whole system, and embodied the law in the form of Basilica. These, though modified by successive emperors, continued to be the basis of the law till the taking of Constantinople, in 1453.

(1) It is divided into fifty books and seven parts, corresponding to the edict, for it followed Ulpian's work on the same subject. Each book consists of titles, each title of extracts, and each extract of a principium (Pr.) and paragraphs. These extracts, which are headed by the name of the jurist or legal .author, are called laws (L.) or fragments (Fr.) The Digest itself is denoted by D. or ff., and is referred to in various ways: thus, the reference to paragraph 6 of the fifth law

of the title De Jure Dotium, which is title 3 of the 23rd book, is this: L. 5, § 6, f. De Jure Dot., or Fr. 5, § 6, D. De Jure Dot. (23, 3), or Fr. 5, § 6, D. 23, 3, or D. 23, 3, 5, § 6. So the Institutes, which are divided into four books, each of which contains several titles, and each title a principium (Pr.) and paragraphs, are referred to thus: Lib. 1, 13, § 1.

On the subject of this Introduction, see Kent's Com. vol. 1, and Gibbon, viii. 30.

DUODECIM TABULARUM FRAGMENTA.

TABULA I.

PROCEEDINGS PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL.

Fr. 1. Si in ius vocat, ni it, antestator; igitur em capito.

When a man is summoned before the magistrate to receive notice of action, if he refuse to go, the plaintiff shall first call some one to bear witness, and then take him by force.

Fr. 2. Si calvitur pedemve struit, manum endo iacito.

If the defendant attempt evasion or flight, the plaintiff shall lay hands on him.

Fr. 3. Si morbus aevitasve vitium escit, qui in ius vocabit iumentum dato. si nolet, arceram ne sternito.

If the defendant be disabled by sickness or age, the plaintiff' shall provide a vehicle. Unless he choose, he shall not provide a vehicle with cushions and roof.

Fr. 4. Assiduo vindex assiduus esto; proletario quoi quis volet vindex esto.

The freeholder shall find a freeholder as surety that he will appear and plead: the non-freeholder shall find whomsoever he can. [Or, he whose property is rated at 1500 asses, shall find a surety rated at not less than 1500 asses; he who is rated at less than 1500 shall get what surety he can.]

Fr. 5. De Fortibus et Sanatibus.

Those who have been constant allies and those who after des fection have renewed alliance. [Or, those who have never been in bondage and those who have been bound and afterwards released.]

Fr. 6. Rem ubi pagunt, orato.

The place [or, the time] where the cause shall be heard, may be fixed by agreement.

Fr. 7. Ni pagunt, in comitio aut in foro ante meridiem causam conicito, quom perorant ambo præsentes.

If the place [or, the time] be not agreed upon, the plaintiff shall open his case in the comitium or forum in the forenoon, when both parties make appearance and proceed to trial.

Fr. 8. Post meridiem praesenti stlitem addicito.

[If one party make default] in the afternoon he who has appeared shall have judgment of the magistrate in his favour.

Fr. 9. Sol occasus suprema tempestas esto.

At sunset the court shall rise.

Fr. 10. Vades.-Subvades.

Surety-sub-surety.

TABULA II.

TRIAL.

Fr. 1. De sacramento quingenario et quinquagenario.

Fr. 2.

The action called Wager of law with a stake of 500 asses or a stake of 50 asses.

Morbus sonticus status dies cum hoste fuit unum iudici arbitrove reove, dies diffisus esto.

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If a dangerous illness, a day fixed for a hearing in a cause against an alien. . . . if any one of these obstacles prevent the attendance of a judex, an arbiter, or a party, the hearing shall be adjourned.

Fr. 3. Cui testimonium defuerit, is tertiis diebus ob portum obvagulatum ito.

If a witness is wanted, the litigant who needs his testimony, on three market days before the trial shall stand before his house, and with loud cries summon him to appear and bear witness.

Fr. 4. Pactum de furto.

The obligation created by theft may be extinguished by agree

ment.

TABULA III.

EXECUTION.

Fr. 1. Aeris confessi rebusque iure iudicatis triginta dies iusti sunto. For payment of an acknowledged debt or damages awarded by judgment thirty days shall be allowed.

Fr. 2. Post deinde manus iniectio esto: in ius ducito.

When these have elapsed, the debtor shall be arrested [shall be proceeded against by the action of manus injectio]: he shall be brought before the magistrate.

Fr. 3. Ni iudicatum facit aut quips endo em iure vindicit, secum ducito, vincito aut nervo aut compedibus: quindecim pondo ne maiore aut si volet minore vincito.

Unless the debtor pay the damages awarded or find in court a surety to guarantee the payment, the creditor shall take him away; he shall put him in stocks or bind him in fetters. With more than fifteen pounds weight he shall not bind him, and, if he choose, with less.

Fr. 4. Si volet, suo vivito: ni suo vivit, qui em vinctum habebit libras farris endo dies dato. Si volet, plus dato.

Gellius XX. 1. § 42-45. Confessi igitur aeris ac debiti iudicatis triginta dies sunt dati conquirendae pecuniae causa, quam dissolverent. Post deinde, nisi dissolverent, ad Praetorem vocabantur et ab eo quibus erant iudicati addicebantur, nervo quoque aut compedibus vinciebantur.

If the debtor choose, he shall live on his own means. Otherwise the creditor who has him in bonds shall give him a pound of bread a day. If the creditor choose, he shall give him more.

F. 5. Sexaginta dies in vinculis eum retineri.

He is to be detained in bonds for sixty days.

Gellius XX. 1. § 46, 47. Erat autem ius interea paciscendi ; ac nisi pacti forent, habebantur in vinculis dies sexaginta: inter eos dies trinis nundinis continuis ad Praetorem in comitium producebantur, quantaeque pecuniae iudicati essent, praedicabatur.

In the meantime the matter may be compromised. Otherwise he is held in bonds for sixty days. In the course of that period on three successive market days he is brought before the Prætor in the comitium, and the amount of damages awarded is proclaimed.

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