The century of Justinian. (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Perception of Justinian I in the Early Medieval Latin West
Byzantium and the Heritage of Europe: Connecting the Cultures. Proceedings of the International Symposium “Days of Justinian I”, Skopje, 30-31 October 2015, 2016
The paper aims at presenting and analyzing the information about Emperor Justinian I derived from selected historical works (histories and chronicles) by writers of the early medieval Latin West from the late 6th to the 11th centuries. The intention is to examine what the writers have to say about Justinian in their respective narratives and to define what image of the emperor they created from the sources at their disposal and consequently wanted to convey to their respective audiences and posterity. An effort is also made to discern the writers’ method with handling the sources from which they extracted the information about Justinian for their own respective accounts of the past, see what interested them most and determine the possible reasons why they included or excluded certain type of information. With regard to that, it is also explored if and to what extent the later writers simply took the information verbatim from the earlier writers, only perpetuating the image already created by their predecessor(s).
Wilhelm Kroll's Preface to Justinian's Novels: An English Translation
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013
The emperor Justinian's legislation continues to be relevant for historians of the law. As Caroline Humfress has written: For the legal historian, the Age of Justinian is nothing short of pivotal. Medievalists and early modernists interested in the so-called reception of Roman law in later times and places must look back to Justinian and his law books, as classicists and historians interested in Roman republican or early imperial law must frequently look forward to them. 1 Justinian's law books are, of course, the Digest, the Code, the Institutes, and the Novels (Novellae Constitutiones), which have become known collectively as the Corpus Iuris Civilis (CIC). 2 It soon becomes clear to those interested in the CIC that the standard modern version is based on the works first created in the late 19 th century by Theodor Mommsen (Digest-Berlin, 1870), Paul Krüger (Institutes-Berlin 1867, and Code-Berlin 1877), and Rudolf Schoell and Wilhelm Kroll (Novels-Berlin 1895). These were formed into a three volume, stereotype set early in the 20 th century. 3 Wolfgang Kunkel has noted: "By comparison with this stereotype edition (which offers the same text in all editions), older general editions of the Corpus iuris can be used only as auxiliary material." 4
This paper deals with the commitment to provide justice to all people that emperor Justinian (483-565 AD) expressed in his Codex Iustinianus, which was part of his codification that provided an extensive restatement of the late Roman law. The paper focuses on how this commitment to provide justice to the people through this codification became apparent. In doing this, it becomes clear that Justinian’s conception of what justice was is closely linked to the strong stratification of society that was prevalent in his time. The paper thus tries to define what this definition of justice entailed, and what threats to the providing of justice through this codification can be identified in this law. This will then be used to show how the providing of justice for all was envisaged in late antique society, and also what other interests were at stake in the maintenance of this imperial law.
Utilitas rei publicae contra misericordiam. Justinian’s Criminal Legislation in Borys Łapicki’s View
Studia Prawnicze KUL, 2019
Borys Łapicki (1889–1974) was a Roman law scholar whose works contained many references to the correlations between Roman law and ethics. The article provides an overview of B. Łapicki’s writings and discusses his views on the concept of misericordia and on the influence of that concept on Emperor Justinian’s criminal legislation. A definite and clear-cut thesis emerges from this analysis. Borys Łapicki declares that although Justinian was an emperor who considered himself and was considered to be the great defender of the Christian faith, his legislation was influenced by the principle of utilitas rei publicae, rather than by Christian misericordia and by the humanitarian principles of the New Testament ethics. This is particularly evident in his criminal legislation. This leads B. Łapicki to conclude that it was “not Christianity that influenced Justinian, but on the contrary, he exercised his influence on Christianity so that it could serve his political purposes.”
Historia i Świat
is a Visiting Research Fellow, King's College London, Department of Classics. Her MPhil and DPhil theses were related to the studies of Emperor Anastasius I (491-518). 1 She currently teaches on the MA course: Greek Language for Beginners. She is also secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, an editor at the Bulletin of British Byzantine Studies, director of the London Summer School in Classics & Ancient Languages KCL Summer School and a Fellow in Society of Antiquaries. Staying within the realm of 6th-century CE Byzantine studies, Dr Haarer published the landmark book Justinian Empire and Society in the Sixth Century. Dr Haarer's previous scientific output includes such papers as: 'Writing Histories of Byzantium: the Historiography of Byzantine History', in A companion to By
JUSTINIAN'S LEGAL ERASURES: LEGAL FICTIONS IN THE NOVELS
Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU vol 29, 11-36 (ISSN 1219-0616, vol. 29 (2023): 11–36 ), 2023
and two anonymous reviewers for comments. 2 Const. Deo auctore 1. The translation is from Alan Watson, trans., The Digest of Justinian (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), xxxiii. The sentiment was not new. See Anon., de Rebus Bellicis 21. 3 The story of the codification effort has been told many times. For a recent account, see Wolfgang Kaiser, "Justinian and the Corpus Iuris Civilis," in The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law, ed.
The novella (37) of Justinian of 535 and its anti-Judaic character
Klio. Czasopismo poświęcone dziejom Polski i powszechnym, 2024
The considerations contained in this article concern legal regulations directed against the followers of Judaism, included in novella 37, issued by Emperor Justinian in 535 and in force only in the prefecture praetorio of Africa. Controversies in the historical discourse are caused by both the reasons for the introduction of a restrictive law, which has no equivalent in other parts of the Roman empire, and its actual reception. The conducted analysis questioned the appropriacy of using the passage from De aedeficiis of Procopius of Caesarea as an example of the practical application of this law and, based on the epistolography of Pope Gregory, determined the hypothetical terminus ante quem of its validity.