London: C. J. CLAY AND SONS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AND STEVENS AND SONS, LIMITED, 119 AND 120, CHANCERY LANE, LAW PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS. Cambridge: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. New York: MACMILLAN AND CO. CLASSICAL LECTURER IN ST JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AND PROFESSOR OF JURISPRUDENCE IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. PREFACE. THIS book is the first part of the work published in 1884 and entitled 'An Introduction to the Study of Justinian's 'Digest, containing an account of its composition and of the 'jurists used or referred to therein, together with a full Com'mentary on one title (de usufructu)'. In compliance with a wish expressed in several quarters, the two parts, viz. the Introduction properly so called, and the Commentary on the title de usufructu, are now issued separately. The work can however still be obtained in its complete form as originally published. 'This first part', as I stated in the original Preface, ‘gives an account of the composition of the Digest and a brief notice 'of each of the jurists, both those from whose writings the 'Digest has been compiled and those who are cited or referred 'to in it. Some information of this kind is given in Histories ' and Institutional treatises on Roman law, but neither the 'order of the titles nor the order of the extracts seems to me 'treated satisfactorily. On the latter point no doubt everyone ' mentions Bluhme's discovery, but I am not aware of any ex'position of it, except Bluhme's own, going into sufficient detail 'to shew its importance in the practical study and interpreta'tion of the Digest. Further, I have thought it well to shew clearly by juxtaposition of some extracts with the originals, 'what the character of Tribonian's revision was. 6 'The account of the Jurists is fuller than is found in general 'histories of Roman law. That this account is after all in many cases very meagre, is due, mainly at least, to the want ' of trustworthy materials. I have refrained here and elsewhere 'from giving reins to imagination, and have endeavoured to let my readers see what may fairly be treated as known and what 'is matter of inference and conjecture'. |