The ''Institutes'' () is a component of the ''
Corpus Juris Civilis
The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, enacted from 529 to 534 by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It is also sometimes referred ...
'', the 6th-century codification of
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 (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I.
Roman law also den ...
ordered by the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
. It is largely based upon the ''
Institutes
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ...
'' of
Gaius
Gaius, sometimes spelled Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen).
People
* Gaius (biblical figure) (1st century AD)
*Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist
* Gaius Acilius
* Gaius Antonius
* Gaius Antonius Hybrida
* Gaius Asinius Gal ...
, a Roman jurist of the second century A.D. The other parts of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' are the ''
Digest'', the ''
Codex Justinianus
The Code of Justinian (, or ) is one part of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', the codification of Roman law ordered early in the 6th century AD by Justinian I, who was Eastern Roman emperor in Constantinople. Two other units, the Digest and the I ...
'', and the ''
Novellae Constitutiones
The ("new constitutions"; ), 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 other three pieces are: the ''Codex Jus ...
'' ("New Constitutions" or "Novels").
Drafting and publication
Justinian's Institutes was one part of his effort to codify Roman law and to reform legal education, of which the Digest also was a part. Whereas the Digest was to be used by advanced law students, Justinian's Institutes was to be a textbook for new students. The need for a new text for first year students was addressed as early as 530 in the constitution "Deo auctore," where reference is made to something "...which may be promulgated to replace the elementary works, so that the raw intelligence of the student, nourished by a simple diet, may proceed more easily to advanced legal studies." Under the supervision of
Tribonian
Tribonian ( Greek: Τριβωνιανός rivonia'nos – 542) was a Byzantine jurist and advisor. During the reign of the Emperor Justinian I, he supervised the revision of the legal code of the Byzantine Empire. He has been described as one of ...
, two law professors (Theophilus and Dorotheus) were assigned to extract statements about the basic institutions ("Institutiones") of Roman law from the teaching books created by writers of "authority" (as defined in the
Law of Citations). The bulk of this new Institutes is the
Institutes of Gaius
The ''Institutes'' (; from , 'to establish') are a beginners' textbook on Roman private law written around 161 AD by the classical Roman jurist Gaius. They are considered to be "by far the most influential elementary-systematic presentati ...
, much of it taken verbatim; but it also uses material from the Institutes of Marcian, Florentinus,
Ulpian
Ulpian (; ; 223 or 228) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon). He moved to Rome and rose to become considered one of the great legal authorities of his time. He was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to ...
, and perhaps
Paul
Paul may refer to:
People
* Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people
* Paul (surname), a list of people
* Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament
* Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
us (the other writers of "authority"). There is some debate over which of the commission members is responsible for what part of the new Institutes. Most recently it has been suggested that Theophilus and Dorotheus created the extracts taken from the older works, while Tribonian revised and added new imperial laws.
This new version of the Institutes was published on November 21, 533 and promulgated with the Digest on December 30, 533. These new Institutes were not only a textbook for first year law students, but, according to the decree that promulgated them (C. Tanta), they carried the force of law. First year law students used Justinian's Institutes as their textbook for centuries.
Structure and content
The Institutes of Justinian is arranged much like Gaius's work, being divided into three subjects in four books covering "persons," "things,", and "actions." The first book considers the legal status of persons (personae), the second and third deal with things (res), while the fourth discusses Roman civil procedure (actiones). Unlike the Digest, the extracts do not provide inscriptions indicating from whom the original material was taken.
Modern editions and translations
Justinian's Institutes was largely unknown in the West. The earliest known manuscript are fragments of a Veronese palimpsest of the ninth century. The first printed edition of Justinian's Institutes was Petrus Schoyff's in 1468. Scholars using the Veronese palimpsest suggested changes to the existing text, and these criticisms resulted in the definitive texts by
Paul Krüger and
Eduard Huschke in 1867 and 1868 respectively. The most frequently used modern version of Justinian's Institutes is that of Krüger, which is in volume one of the Krüger, Mommsen, Kroll and Schoell stereotype edition.
There are several translations of Justinian's Institutes into English, the better of the older ones being those of J.B. Moyle and
Thomas Collett Sandars
Thomas Collett Sandars (1825–1894) was an English barrister, best known as an editor of the ''Institutes of Justinian''.
Life
The eldest son of Samuel Sandars of Lochnere, near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, he matriculated at Balliol College ...
. More recent translations by Birks & McLeod are also available as facing editions with Krüger's Latin.
Samuel Parsons Scott
Samuel Parsons Scott (8 July 1846 – 30 May 1929), known as S. P. Scott, was an American attorney, banker and scholar. He was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, where he received a classics-based education at the Hillsboro Academy; he went on to earn his ...
translated the Institutes into English as part of his translation of the entire "Corpus Juris Civilis," but his translation has not been well received.
[See Timothy Kearley]
''Justice Fred Blume and the Translation of the Justinian Code''
(2nd ed. 2008) 3, 21. Scott's translation is ''The Civil Law, including the Twelve Tables, the Institutes of Gaius, the Rules of Ulpian, the Enactments of Justinian, and the Constitutions of Leo...'' 17 vols. (1932) available a
For a discussion of the work of Scott, Fred H. Blume, and Clyde Pharr on Roman law translation see Kearley, Timothy G., "From Rome to the Restatement: S.P. Scott, Fred Blume, Clyde Pharr, and Roman Law in Early Twentieth-Century," available at Social Science Research Networ
See also
*
Constitution (Roman law)
In Roman law, a ''constitutio'' ("constitution") is any legislative enactment by a Roman emperor. It includes edicts, decrees (judicial decisions), and ''rescripta'' (written answers to officials or petitioners). ''Mandata'' (instructions) give ...
*
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 () 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'' (plural ''leges'' ...
*
Novel (Roman law) In Roman law, a novel (, "new decree"; ) 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'' in 438 and ...
References
External links
*. Located Project Gutenberg
{{Authority control
Byzantine law
Justinian I
Prose texts in Latin
Roman law
6th century in law
6th century in the Byzantine Empire