The Law of Citations (''Lex citationum'') was a

Roman law Roman law is the 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 Ju ...

issued from Ravenna in AD 426 by the emperor

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

, or rather by his regent mother, Galla Placidia Augusta, to the Senate and the people of Rome, and it included in both

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

's law compilation of 438 ('' Codex Theodosianus'' 1, 4, 3) and the first edition of the '' Codex Justinianus''. It was designed to help judges deal with vast amounts of jurist writings on a subject and thus to reach a decision. According to the legal historian Alan Watson, "This Law of Citations marks a low point of Roman

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, since t declaresthe correct opinion is to be found by counting heads, not by choosing the best solution". Nonetheless, it was "exhibiting no mean instinct of statesmanship" and may be viewed as an attempt to simplify adjudication in practice, "in opposition to the growing ignorance and ubiquitous corruption and injustice of the times". Authority was given to

Ulpianus Ulpian (; la, Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus; c. 170223? 228?) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre. He was considered one of the great legal authorities of his time and was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to be based according to ...

, Gaius, Paulus, Papinianus and Modestinus, as they were some of the outstanding

jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

of the classical period. Quotations used by the jurists were also given authority. If there was a conflict between the jurists, the majority view would prevail. In the event of an even number of views on each side, the view of Papinianus would be applied. If Papinianus expressed no opinion, the judge would then be free to use his own judgement. Lesser classical jurists could also be cited on the condition that at least two relevant manuscripts could be collated to verify their proper citation. That would have been important, especially in situations of the works of the lesser jurists being scarce and therefore suspect.

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External links

UPMF-grenoble.fr
The Roman Law Library Roman law {{AncientRome-law-stub