In
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
, a novel ( la, novella constitutio, "new decree"; gr, νεαρά, neara) is a new decree or edict,
in other words a new law. The term was used from the fourth century AD onwards and was specifically used for laws issued after the publishing of the ''
Codex Theodosianus
The ''Codex Theodosianus'' (Eng. Theodosian Code) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 a ...
'' in 438 and then for the Justiniac Novels, or ''
Novellae Constitutiones
The ("new constitutions"; grc, Νεαραὶ διατάξεις), or ''Justinian's Novels'', are now considered one of the four major units of Roman law initiated by Roman emperor Justinian I in the course of his long reign (AD 527–565). The o ...
''. The term was used on and off in later Roman history until falling out of use during the
late Byzantine period.
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See also
* Constitution (Roman law)
In Roman law, a constitution is a generic name for a legislative enactment by a Roman emperor. It includes ''edicts'', ''decrees'' (judicial decisions) and ''rescripts'' (written answers to officials or petitioners). ''Mandata'' (instructions) ...
* International Roman Law Moot Court
The International Roman Law Moot Court (IRLMC) is an international European annual moot court competition in Roman law.
Participating universities are the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Naples Federico II ...
* List of Roman laws
This is a partial list of Roman laws. A Roman law (Latin: ''lex'') is usually named for the sponsoring legislator and designated by the adjectival form of his ''gens'' name ('' nomen gentilicum''), in the feminine form because the noun ''lex'' (pl ...
References
Further reading
*H.F. Jolowicz and B. Nicholas, ''Historical Introduction to Roman Law'', 3rd edn. (1972)
Roman law
Byzantine law
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