The Proculeian or Pegasian school was one of the two most important schools of law in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

during the 1st and 2nd centuries.

Origin

The Proculeians originally took their name from the prominent jurist

Proculus Proculus (died c. 281) was a Roman usurper, one of the "minor pretenders" according to ''Historia Augusta'', who would have taken the purple against Emperor Probus in 280. This is now disputed. Probably Proculus had family connection with the Fr ...

, but later came to often be called "Pegasians" after the prominent Proculeian Plotius Pegasus. However, the tradition on which the school was based comes from the jurist

Marcus Antistius Labeo Marcus Antistius Labeo (d. 10 or 11 AD) was a Roman jurist. Marcus Antistius Labeo was the son of Pacuvius Labeo, a jurist who caused himself to be slain after the defeat of his party at Philippi. Since his name was different from his father's, ...

. Labeo spent half the year convening sessions at actual schools with regular students, who then carried forth his views and perspectives on the law. They were often contrasted with the

Sabinian school The Sabinian school was one of the two important schools of Law in Rome during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The Sabinians took their name from Masurius Sabinus but later were known as ''Cassians'' after Sabinus' student, Cassius Longinus. Sabini ...

, a rival school operating in roughly the same time and place, and were (very generally) considered the more progressive of the two, while the Sabinians were seen as more advocates of legal conservatism. Proculeians were thought to "push a legal principle to all its logical consequences," and the legal tradition they inherited from Labeo was one of liberalism influenced by a keen understanding of the science of the day. The Proculeians tried to enlarge the scope of Roman law, and tried to push legal innovations into practice such as were suggested by their liberal philosophy and the principles of reason. The progressive and conservative natures of the schools increased over time, and there came to be wider chasms between the two, which is perhaps why the schools came to be named after later prominent disciples and students, and not after their originators (the Proculeian school being named after Proculus but originated by Labeo, and the Sabinian school being named after

Masurius Sabinus Masurius Sabinus, also Massurius, was a Roman jurist who lived in the time of Tiberius (reigned 14–37 AD). Unlike most jurists of the time, he was not of senatorial rank and was admitted to the equestrian order only rather late in life, by virtu ...

but originated by Gaius Ateius Capito).

Positions

The Roman legal compendium known as '' Digest'' records many decisions in which the Proculeians advocated. Among these were: * Fixing the legal age of puberty (decided in favor of the Proculeians) * Deciding the validity of an appointment of an heir in a will in which the son had been omitted (decided in favor of the Sabinians) * Deciding the validity of a will in which the will writer made inheritance conditional upon an impossible condition (decided in favor of the Sabinians) * Deciding the legal effect on slaves that are jointly owned when one of the owners grants the slave their freedom (decided in favor of the Sabinians)'' Digest'' iii, § 167a

End of the school

The rivalry with the Sabinians ended in the 2nd century CE when the two schools either merged or disappeared, or were united under the 3rd century's leading legal mind,

Papinian Aemilius Papinianus (; grc, Αἰμίλιος Παπινιανός; 142 CE–212 CE), simply rendered as Papinian () in English, was a celebrated Roman jurist, ''magister libellorum'', attorney general (''advocatus fisci'') and, after the dea ...

Notable Proculeians

Marcus Cocceius Nerva (jurist) Marcus Cocceius Nerva (before 5 BC – AD 33) was a member of the entourage of the Roman emperor Tiberius and a celebrated jurist. He was the son of Marcus Cocceius Nerva and the grandfather of emperor Nerva. In AD 24 Tiberius appointed him ...

Marcus Cocceius Nerva (emperor's father) Marcus Cocceius Nerva may refer to: *Marcus Cocceius Nerva (consul 36 BC), great-grandfather of the Roman emperor *Marcus Cocceius Nerva (jurist), grandfather of the Roman emperor *Marcus Cocceius Nerva, consul ''suffectus'' in 40 AD, father of the ...

Publius Juventius Celsus Publius Juventius Celsus Titus Aufidius Hoenius Severianus (AD 67– AD 130) — the son of a little-known jurist of the same name, hence also Celsus filius — was, together with Julian, the most influential ancient Roman jurist of the High Class ...

* Lucius Neratius Priscus *

Proculus (jurist) Proculus ( fl. 1st century CE) was an ancient Roman jurist who founded a distinctive tradition of the interpretation of Roman law. His followers were known as the "Proculiani", or Proculeans, after him. The full name of Proculus is unknown. He a ...

* Plotius Pegasus * Titus Aristo

References

{{reflist, 30em Roman law