The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels · 377 LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 102:3 [2010-22] The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels* timothy g. Kearley** Drawing

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LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 102:3 [2010-22]

The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels*

timothy g. Kearley**

Drawing primarily upon the most authoritative foreign-language sources, this article provides an English-language survey of how compilations of Justinian’s Novels were created and passed along over nearly two thousand years.

Introduction

¶1ThebasichistoryofJustinian’ssixthcenturycodificationofRomanlawisnosecret.LiteratureabouttheCorpus Juris Civilis (CJC),asthatbodyoflawcametobeknown,aboundsinmanylanguages.1However,onepartofthatcompilation,the Novellae constitutiones (New Constitutions, or Novels), has been less widelydiscussedthantheothers.Moreoveritappearsthat,inparticular,detaileddescrip-tionsofhoweditionsoftheNovelsweretransmittedfromJustinian’stimetoourownerahavenotbeenpublishedinEnglish.

¶2Nineteenth-andtwentieth-centuryContinentalwritersprovidedextremelydetailedaccountsinGerman,French,Italian,andsometimesLatinofthedifferentversionsoftheNovelsandotherpartsoftheCJC—howtheywerecreated,used,andpassedalongduringtheMiddleAgesandtheRenaissance,andhowscholarsgraduallyreconstructed the texts tocreate theeditionnowacceptedas thestan-dard.Thisisnotsurprising,astheContinentwasnecessarilythelocusofresearchonthesubject.Mostoftheancientmanuscriptswerethere,andtheirnationallegalsystems were based on, and still looked to, Roman law. Writers in English citeBiener,Krüger,Noailles,andWenger,especially, for their lengthydescriptionsofthemanuscriptsandtheseprocesses.2

* ©TimothyG.Kearley,2010. ** DirectoroftheLawLibraryandProfessorofLaw,UniversityofWyomingCollegeofLaw,Laramie,Wyoming.IwouldliketothankProfessorHaroldEvjenforreadingadraftofthisarticleandmakingvaluablesuggestionsforitsimprovement.Anyremainingerrorsordeficienciesaremyownresponsibility. 1. ForinformationinEnglish,see,e.g.,tony honoré,TriboniAn 124–222 (1978); woLfgAng kUnkeL, An introdUction to romAn LegAL And constitUtionAL history 163–76 (J.M. Kellytrans.,2ded.1973);A. ArthUrschiLLer, romAn LAw: mechAnisms of deveLopment §§ 12–16, at29–40 (1978);CarolineHumfress,Law and Legal Practice in the Age of Justinian, in the cAmbridge compAnion to the Age of JUstiniAn161,162–66(MichaelMaased.,2005);andDetlefLiebs,Roman Law,in14the cAmbridge Ancient history: LAte AntiQUity: empire And sUccessors, A.d. 425–600, at238, 244–52 (AverilCameronetal.eds.,2000). 2. friedrich AUgUst biener, geschichte der noveLLen JUstiniAn’s(Berlin,Dümmler1824);pAUL krüger,geschichte der QUeLLen Und LitterAtUr des römischen rechts(Leipzig,Duncker&Humblot1888);pierre noAiLLes,Les coLLections de noveLLes de L’empereUr JUstinien(1912–1914);LeopoLd von wenger,die QUeLLen des römischen rechts(1953).AlsousefulismAx conrAt cohn,geschichte der QUeLLen Und LiterAtUr des römischen rechts im früheren mitteLALter

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¶3However,scholarswritinginEnglishappeartohavewishedtoavoidrepeat-ingthefindingsoftheirContinentalcounterparts,andseemtohaveassumedthatpersonsinterestedinthedetailswouldbeabletoreadtheseforeignlanguagesforthemselves;therefore,theyofferonlysummarydescriptions.Schiller,inhisexcel-lent Roman Law, provides a good example of this. He covers the history of theNovelsinonlytwopagesandthenwrites:“ThepromulgationandthenatureoftheNovels, the manuscripts and editions are discussed at length by Biener [and]Wenger.”3Unfortunately,Ithinkmanyinterestedpartiesmaynot,infact,beabletoreadtheseearlystudiesthatappearedinlanguagesotherthanEnglish.

¶4Therefore,inordertomakethesemoredetailedaccountsavailable,Iofferinthis article an English-language synthesis of some of the abundant informationconcerning the Novels—the manuscripts, their transmission, and their transfor-mation into the modern editions we know—that has appeared in German andFrench. I draw primarily on the writers noted in the preceding paragraphs andrefer to writings in both of those languages whenever possible. (All translationsgiven here are my own.) I also refer to other, more recent, research, includingEnglish-languagework,whichtosomeextentmodifiestheearlieraccounts.

Background of the Novels

¶5ThebasicfactsconcerningJustinian’scodificationcanbesummarizedread-ily.In528,theemperorJustinianappointedacommissiontocompileandharmo-nize the imperial enactments (constitutiones, or constitutions) of previousemperors.4Thecommissionworkedquickly,andJustinianwasabletopromulgate

(Leipzig,J.C.Hinrichs1891).KrollalsorefersfrequentlytoBienerandKrügerinhisLatinintroduc-tiontotheclassicmoderneditionoftheNovels.SeeGuilelmus[Wilhelm]Kroll,Praefatioto3rUdoLf schoeLL & wiLheLm kroLL, corpUs iUris civiLis: noveLLAe,atiii(1912).Thenamesofpersonsinthisarticlewillbestandardizedintheirmostcommonlyusedforms.Forinstance,manywritersonRomanlawusedLatinizedversionsoftheirnamesintheirscholarlywork,e.g.,GuilelmusKrollandRudolfusSchoell,buttheyareusuallyreferredtobytheirgivennamesforbibliographicpurposes. 3. schiLLer,supranote1,§16,at39n.1(citationsomitted).See alsoh.f. JoLowicz & bArry nichoLAs, historicAL introdUction to the stUdy of romAn LAw 496–98 (3d ed. 1972) (devot-ingaboutthesamespaceasSchiller totheNovelsandalsoreferringtoKrügerandother foreign-languagewriters);StephenL.Sass,Research in Roman Law: A Guide to the Sources and Their English Translations,56LAw Libr. J. 210,210n.2 (1963) (citingKrügerandWenger).A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythologyoffersmoredetailedcoverageofthissubject,butitwaspub-lishedin1880andthusdoesnotbenefitfromoveracenturyandathirdofsubsequentscholarship.However, the relevant entries are still worth reading. See John Thomas Graves, Justinianus: The Legislation of Justinian, in 2A dictionAry of greek And romAn biogrAphy And mythoLogy 666 (WilliamSmithed.,London,JohnMurray1880)[hereinafterGraves,Justinianus]andJohnThomasGraves,Julianus: The Graeco-Roman Jurist,in2A dictionAry of greek And romAn biogrAphy And mythoLogy, supra,at650. 4. Concerning theEstablishmentofaNewCode[Constitutio haec quae Necessario](Feb.13,528),translated in 6[12]corpUs JUris civiLis:the civiL LAw3(S.P.Scotttrans.,photo.reprint1973)(1932)[hereinafterciviL LAw].(InreferencestotheprinteditionofScott,thefirstvolumenumberisthereprintvolume,thenumberinbracketsistheoriginalvolumenumber,andthepagenumberistheoriginalpagenumber.Thereprintpublisherprintedmorethanoneoriginalvolumeineachreprintvolumebutretainedtheoriginalpagenumbers.Theoriginalvolumenumbersalsoappearoneachpage,sothereadercanfindtheappropriatepagebyusingallthreenumbers.)Thisconstitution

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thiscompilation—theCodex,orCode—in529.5Thereafter,onlytheCode,andnotthepriorimperiallegislation,couldbecitedaslaw.In530and531,heissuedthe“fiftydecisions”(quinquaginta decisiones)thatresolveddifferencesamongthewrit-ingsofclassicaljurists,andthereafterhecontinuedtoissueothernewlaws.6TheseadditionsmeanthisCodecouldnolongerbethesoleunifiedsourceof imperiallegislation. Thus, in 534, Justinian promulgated the second edition of the Code(Codex repetitae praelectionis),withhisConstitutio cordi nobis,7integratingthenewlegislationintotheCodeandsupersedingthefirstedition.

¶6However,newlegislationobviouslywouldcontinuetoberequiredafterthesecondCodeaswell.Inhispragmaticsanctionof554(Sanctio pragmatica pro peti-tione Vigilii),8Justinianforesawthat,inordertoensurethatinterestedpartiescouldknowthecurrentstateofthelaw,hewouldneedtomaintainacollectionofallnewlawsmodifyingtheCode(novellae constitutiones, quae post nostri codicis confectio-nem late sunt). Justinian never did issue an official compilation of these new

wasattachedasthefirstprefacetoJustinian’soriginalCodeandalsoisfoundwiththesecondedition,asarethesecondandthirdprefacesnotedbelow.Constitutionsareknownbytheiropeningwords.See kUnkeL,supranote1,at164.

Unfortunately,ScottdidnotusethebestavailablesourcesforhisEnglishtranslationoftheCorpus Juris Civilis.Seeinfra¶47.However,JusticeFredBlumedidusethemostauthoritativeLatintextsforhistranslationoftheCodeandNovels.Seeid.Forhistranslation,seeFredH.Blume,Univ.ofWyo.CollegeofLaw,AnnotatedJustinianCode(TimothyKearleyed.,2ded.2010), http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/default.asp [hereinafter Annotated Justinian Code]. His translation oftheconstitutioninquestionisontheUniversityofWyomingwebsite:ConcerningtheCompositionofaNewCode(Feb.13,528),translated in AnnotatedJustinianCode,supra,http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/Book%201PDF/Book%201-Introduction.pdf. For the background of JusticeBlume’stranslation,seeTimothyG.Kearley,Justice Fred Blume and the Translation of Justinian’s Code,99LAw Libr. J. 525, 2007 LAw Libr. J. 31. 5. SeeConcerningtheConfirmationoftheCodeofJustinian[Constitutio Summa Rei Publicae](Apr.7,529),translated in 6[12]civiL LAw,supranote4,at4(secondprefacetotheCode);ConcerningtheConfirmationoftheJustinianCode(Apr.7,529),translated in AnnotatedJustinianCode,supranote4,http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/Book%201PDF/Book%201-Introduction.pdf. 6. Seehonoré, supranote1,at142–46.See alsoLiebs,supranote1,at250;CharlesPazdernik,Justinianic Ideology and the Power of the Past, inthe cAmbridge compAnion to the Age of JUstiniAn, supranote1,at185,198–202. 7. Concerning theAmendments of the Code of our Lord Justinian, and the Second Editionof theSame (Nov.16,534), translated in 6 [12]civiL LAw, supranote4, at6 (thirdpreface to theCode). See also Concerning the Correction of the Justinian Code and the Second Edition Thereof(Nov. 16, 534), translated in Annotated Justinian Code, supra note 4, http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/Book%201PDF/Book%201-Introduction.pdf. 8. ThattheLawsoftheEmperorShallBeExtendedintoHisProvinces(Aug.13,554).ThislawisappendedtothestandardeditionoftheNovelsasnumber7(Nov.App.7).TheEnglishtitlegivenhereisthatprovidedbyBlumeinhistranslationanddescribesthethrustofthelaw.TheactualfirstwordsrefertothefactthatthispragmaticsanctionwasgiveninresponsetoapetitionsenttotheemperorbyPopeVigilius.wenger, supranote2,§84, at 658–59.Apragmatic sanctionwas“[a]n imperialdecreeororderorconstitutionaddressedtoacommunity,guild,municipalityorotherbodyofmenconcerningtheirpublicaffairs.”ConcerningtheCompositionofaNewCode,supranote4,at1n.2(Blume’snote).See alsoW.W.bUckLAnd, A text-book of romAn LAw from AUgUstUs to JUstiniAn 20 n.7(PeterSteined.,3drev.ed.1963);wenger,supranote2,§74,at434–38.


constitutions,9butprivatepersonsfilledthevoidandcreatedunofficialcompila-tionsinseveralforms.10

The Nature of the Novels

¶7Beforediscussingthecompilationsperse,itishelpfultodescribethelaws,or constitutions, themselves. The term constitutiones (or constitutiones principis)referstoawiderangeof“measuresdecreedbytheprinceps”thatweredeemedtocreatelaw.11 Constitutionesthusincludessuchcommonmeasuresasedicta(edicts),decreta(decrees),mandata(mandates),andrescripta(rescripts).Edictswereproc-lamationsoftheemperordirectedtothepublicatlarge;decreesconsistedofjudi-cialdecisionsmadeeitherinthefirstinstanceorasanappellatejudge;mandatesorderedaprovincialgovernortotakecertainactions;andrescriptsreferredtotheemperor’scorrespondencewithpublicofficialsandprivatecitizens.12Alsocomingunderthebroadcategoryofconstitutionswereepistulae—lettersfromtheemperortopublicofficialsthatestablishedbindinglaw—andsubscriptions—hisresponsestoprivatepartieswritteninthemarginatthebottomoftheirpetitions.13Severalother, less important, types of law also have been identified, but need not bedescribedhere.14

¶8Thecompiledconstitutionshaveastandardform.First,thereisaninscrip-tionindicatingtowhomthelawisaddressed,completewiththatperson’stitle,anddeclaring that it is from the emperor (most of whose lengthy title is usuallyomitted).15Nextisthepraefatioorprooimion(preface),whichprovidestheratio-naleforthelaw—theproblemitaddresses.16Thebodyofthelaw(thesanktioninGerman)follows.17Inmoderneditions,thelawtypicallyisdividedintochapters,althoughtheoriginalswerenot.18Thesubstanceofthelawisfollowedbyanepilo-gusorepilogo(epilogue),totheaddressees,instructingthemonhow,andtowhom,

9. Thetermnovella,ornovels,wasusedasearlyasthefourthcenturyA.D.fornewerlaws;e.g.,theNovelsofTheodosius.Whenusedwithoutadditionalqualification,however,theterm“novels”isnowassumedtorefertotheJustiniannovels.wenger,supranote2,§84,at652.ForananalysisofthedebateoverwhethertheAuthenticum(see infra¶¶19–25)wasanofficialcompilation,seebiener,supranote2,at38–51;JoLowicz & nichoLAs,supranote3,at498;andinfra¶¶19,22. 10. Biener,supranote2,at51–57;krüger,supranote2,§48,at353. 11. KUnkeL, supranote1,at127. 12. See generallyid.at127–30.Astoedicta,decreta,mandata,andrescripta,seeschiLLer,supra note1,§164,at481–84;§165,at484–88;§169,at501–06;§166,at488–93,respectively,whereheprovidesexamplesofeachfromancientdocuments. 13. SeeKUnkeL, supranote1,at128–29.Thetermsubscriptiowasusedinothersensesaswell—suchassimplyreferringtotheemperor’ssignaturescripsi,orrescripsi:“Ihavesigned.”Foradetailedexplanationofthedifferentformsofsubscription,seeschiLLer,supranote1,§168,at497–501. 14. Wenger, for example, discusses adnotationes, leges generales, and sanctio pragmaticae.wenger,supranote2,§74,at432–38. 15. Foradiscussionofinscriptions,seebiener,supranote2,at21,24–25;1NoAiLLes,supranote2,at81;andwenger, supranote2,§84,at654–57,679. 16. Seehonoré,supranote1,at125–27;krüger,supranote2,§48,at354;schiLLer,supranote1,§16,at40. 17. biener,supranote2,at22;krüger,supranote2,§48,at354. 18. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at52.


thecontentsofthelawshouldbemadeknown,andwhenitshouldtakeeffect.19Attheendofeachconstitutionisasubscription(differentfromthelegal“subscrip-tions”notedabove)showingthedatethelawwasissued.20Thesesubscriptionswerefrequentlyremovedfrommanuscripts,andtheirmodernreconstructionrequiredagooddealofresearch.

¶9 Most novels were written in Greek, the language of the Eastern empire.21However,afewnovelswerewritteninLatinbecauseLatinwasstillthelanguageofthehigherbureaucracy,thelawschools,andsomepartsoftheempire,whileafewotherswerecomposed inboth languages.22Although theNovels isnowthe leastdiscussedpieceofJustinian’scodification,itwasthebest-knownpartofJustinian’slawforcenturiesinEurope,23andformanymorecenturiesitwasvalidlawintheByzantineEmpire.24

¶10 As noted above, these novellae constitutiones were sent to the addresseesshownintheinscriptions,who,inturn,weresometimesdirectedintheepiloguetomakethecontentsknowntoothers.25Thebulkofthenovels,thoseofgeneralappli-cation,weredirectedtothePraetorianPrefectof theOrient, theEmperor’schiefjudicial officer, who was sometimes commanded in the law to make it widelyknown.26Thisgeneralpublicationoftenwasdonebywritingthelawonatablet,orinstone,anddisplayingitinchurches.27

Sources

Archive: the Liber Legum

¶11AlthoughJustinianneverissuedanofficialcompilationofthelegislationhepromulgated following the publication of the second edition of the Code, hisadministrationdidmaintainmanyofthosenewlawsinacollectioncalledtheLiber legumorLibri legum.PierreNoaillesdescribesthisarchiveatgreatlength,referringtoitasadepository,andotherwriterscommentonitaswell,althoughtheydonotagreeastoitsexactnature.28LettersbetweenPlinyandemperorTrajanfromthe

19. 1id.at75.See alsobiener,supranote2,at22;krüger,supranote2,§48,at354. 20. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at62;wenger, supranote2,§84,at679. 21. Seehonoré,supranote1,at124;kUnkeL,supranote1,at175. 22. kUnkeL,supranote1,at175.Honoréindicatesthatfrom535to541,115novellae constitutio-neswerepromulgatedinGreekand21inLatin;4werecountedtwice,withnovels111and112beingbilingual,andnumber7beingthecompositeofaGreeklawandaLatinlaw.honoré, supranote1,at124n.3. 23. SeechArLes m. rAdding & Antonio ciArALLi, the Corpus IurIs CIvIlIs in the middLe Ages: mAnUscripts And trAnsmission from the sixth centUry to the JUristic revivAL40(2007). 24. See Charles P. Sherman, The Basilica: A Ninth Century Roman Law Code Which Became the First Civil Code of Modern Greece a Thousand Years Later,66U. pA. L. rev.363,364–65(1918).TheNovels alsowere“received” intoGerman law in the sixteenthcentury.SeerUdoLf sohm, the institUtes§6,at18(JamesCrawfordLedlietrans.,AugustusM.Kelley3ded.1970)(1907). 25. Seebiener,supranote2,at24–25. 26. Seeid.at25–35;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at80–81;wenger, supranote2,§84,at654–57. 27. biener,supranote2,at28–29. 28. See generally 1 noAiLLes, supra note 2, at 31–58. See also biener, supra note 2, at 39–40;krüger,supranote2,§48,at353n.3;bernhArd von kübLer, geschichte des römischen rechts § 42, at417(1925);wenger, supranote2,§74,at441–42;§84,at652–54.


earlyfirstcenturyA.D.presupposethattheimperialbureaucracystoredanarchiveofconstitutionsformanyyears;29thetextofsomenovelsindicatestheyaretobedeposited30 (e.g., novels 17 and 24–26); and Wenger points to a sketch in theNotitia dignitatum of a thick bundle of documents under the insignia of theQuaestor sacri palatii,whichhesuggestsmightrepresenttheLiber legum.31

¶12Inbrief,theofficeoftheQuaestor sacri palatiimaintainedacollectionoforiginalcopiesofimportantlaws.32Mostofthelegislationstoredinitconsistedofgenerallaws,butsomerescriptsandpragmaticsanctionsweredepositedaswell.33AccordingtoNoailles,thelawswerekeptin“groupsofsixmonths”butwerenotnecessarilyinchronologicalorderwithinthosesemiannualbatches.34HebelievedthisLiber legumwasthecommonsourceofthenoveltextsusedbyprivatepartiestocreatethenovelcompilationsthathavecomedowntous.“Oneisledtobelievethatit[theLiber legum]wastheprinciplesourcefromwhichjurisconsultsknewthe imperial constitutions and also without doubt was where the editors of thevariouscollectionswehaveobtainedtheirmaterial.”35

¶13 Noailles even suggests this depository collection may be the collectionpromisedbyJustinianwhenhewroteinhisConstitutio cordi nobis thatifanyaddi-tionalnewlawswereneeded,theywould“beembodiedinanothercollectiontobedesignated by the name of New Constitutions.”36 Other commentators disagreewithNoailleson this issue(andonsomeother specificsabout theLiber legum),most believing Justinian intended to publish a separate compilation of novellae constitutiones,notjustcollecttheminanarchive.37However,allagreetheQuaestordidkeepanarchiveofimportantlaws.Wengerproposesthat“theLiberlegumcan,literallyunderstood,meansimplyabook[perhapsabinder]inwhichthelawswerecontained . . . .”38 Inanyevent,wecanbesure the imperialadministrationkeptcopiesofthenovellae constitutionesthatprivatepersonsusedforthetextsonwhichtheybasedtheircompilations.ThethreemostimportanteditionsoftheNovelsaretheEpitome Juliani,theAuthenticum,andtheGreekCollectionof168.

29. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at31–32. 30. biener,supranote2,at39. 31. Seewenger, supranote2,§84,at653.TheNotitia dignitatumwas“asortofofficialhand-book, in which the civil offices and the military commands . . . together with information aboutofficialinsigniaandbadgesarecollected....”kUnkeL, supranote1,at217. 32. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at39;wenger, supranote2,§84,at653.TheQuaestor sacri palatiihasbeencalled“asortofMinisterofJustice.”kUnkeL,supranote1,at141.TribonianheldthisofficeunderJustinian.AccordingtoBlume,thisofficialhadnodedicatedlegalstaffofhisownbutcoulddrawonlawyersinthreeotherimperialoffices.ConcerningtheOfficeofQuaestor[De Officio Quaestoris]tit.30,ch.1.30(Apr.424),translated in AnnotatedJustinianCode,supranote4,http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/Book%201PDF/Book%201-30.pdf(translator’sheadnote). 33. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at41–42. 34. Id.at54–55(author’stranslationfromFrenchtoEnglish),92–93. 35. Id.at59(author’stranslationfromFrenchtoEnglish). 36. Id.at34–35(author’stranslationfromFrenchtoEnglish). 37. See, e.g.,schiLLer,supra note1,§16,at39;wenger, supranote2,§84,at668. 38. wenger, supranote2,§84,at653(author’stranslationfromGermantoEnglish).


compilations

The Epitome Juliani 39

¶14Julian(Iulianus),alawprofessorinConstantinople,createdtheearlieststill-surviving Novels compilation as an introduction to these predominantly GreeklawsfortheuseofhisLatin-speakingstudents—probablyinthe556–557academicyear.40AninscriptionatthetopofafewofthemanuscriptsgivesJulian’snameanddescribeshimasaveryrenownedprofessorofConstantinoplewhotranslatedtheGreeknovelsintoLatin.41Thiswork,knownastheEpitome Juliani,providesaLatinsummary—not the full text—of 124 novels (actually 122, because two arerepeated).42Thenumberofnovelscoveredissometimesgivenas125,becauseofacryptic,fragmentarycommentattheendoftwoEpitomemanuscriptsreferringtoConstitutionCXXV.43

¶15Julianmostlikelychosetomakehiscompilationin555becauseJustinianhadonlyayearbeforeissuedthepragmaticsanctionpro petitio Vigili,makingthecodificationseffectiveinItalyandtherebyincreasingthedemandforRomanlegalstudies.44JustinianhadauthorizedlawteachingatRomesometwentyyearsearlier,intheConstitutio omnem,45butstudentsfromItalystilltraveledtoConstantinopletostudyatitslong-establisheduniversity.46Thecurriculumoflegalstudiesbecameafive-yearprogram,butScheltemasuggestsasixthyearmayhavebeenaddedforashortperiodinordertoencompasstheNovels,andheproposesthattheEpitome Julianiconstitutedthecompletelecturenotesforthiscourse.47

39. Forinformationonthiscollectiongenerally,seebiener,supranote2,at70–84;cohn,supranote 2, at 38–41, 121–32; krüger, supra note 2, § 48, at 355; 1 noAiLLes, supra note 2, at 149–60;wenger,supranote2,§84,at669,677–78;andKroll,supranote2,atvii–viii.Forinformationonanearlier,lostcollection,seeLiebs,supranote1,at251–52. 40. See detLef von Liebs, die JUrisprUdenz im spätAntiken itALien 220–23, 264–65 (1987);h.J. scheLtemA, L’enseignement de droit des AntécesseUrs 13, 47–48 (1970). For brief English-languagesurveysofRomanlegaleducationinlateantiquity,seeLiebs,supranote1,at253–55andH.J. Scheltema, Byzantine Law, in 4 The cAmbridge medievAL history: the byzAntine empire:government, chUrch And civiLisAtion55,55–58(J.M.Husseyed.,1967). 41. See1noAiLLes,supranote2,at158;wenger, supranote2,§84,at669n.183. 42. This summaryorparaphrase is sometimesreferred toasan“index.”SeescheLtemA, supra note40,at49–52;Scheltema,supranote40,at57. 43. Forexample,RudorffgivesthenumberofnovelsintheEpitomeas125.See1AdoLf friedrich von rUdorff, römische rechtsgeschichte§114,at319(Leipzig,Tauchnitz1857).Foradescriptionofthisfragmentarycommentandatheoryaboutit,seeK.E.ZachariaevonLingenthal,Zur Geschichte des Authenticum und des Epitome Novellarum des Antecessor Julianus, in 2 sitzUngsberichte der königLich preUssischen AkAdemie der wissenschAften zU berLin 993,1000–03(Berlin,AkademiederWissenschaften1882)(positingthatthemanuscriptcontainingthecommentoriginallyheldboththe Epitome and the Authenticum, and was later divided so that the comment ending the EpitomebecameattachedtothebeginningoftheAuthenticum).See also1noAiLLes,supranote2,at150–52(discussingZachariae’stheory). 44. 1 noAiLLes,supranote2,at156;wenger, supranote2,§84,at669. 45. Liebs,supranote40,at124.ForanEnglishtranslationofthisconstitution,seeTheWholeBodyofLaw(Dec.16,533),translated in 1the digest of JUstiniAn, atl(AlanWatsoned.&trans.,1985).Thelawoutlinestheofficialcourseoflegalstudytobefollowedintheauthorizedschools.See alsobUckLAnd,supranote8,at49;JoLowicz & nichoLAs,supranote3,at498–500. 46. SeeLiebs, supranote40,at220–21;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at160. 47. scheLtemA, supranote40,at48–49.Cf. Liebs,supranote1, at 254 (statingthat“[t]hecourseofstudylastedfiveyears”).


¶16Thisepitomeincludesonly122distinctnovels,48arrangedinroughchron-ologicalorder.49Itencompassestheshortesttimespanofallthecollections,from535 to555, and isnotas completeas theothercompilationsdiscussedbelow—especially the 168-novel Greek Collection that forms the basis of modern edi-tions.50 However, the Epitome Juliani does include one novel missing from thatlarger collection,51 and the subscriptions retained in this epitome’s manuscriptswereusedtofillinthemissingsubscriptionsoftheGreekCollection.52Moreover,itsparatitla53provedusefulforcenturiesofRomanlawstudents.

¶17ItislikelyJulian’sstudentsbroughtcopiesofthisNovelssummarybacktoItalytoassistthemintheirpractice.54Overtheyears,anextensivearrayofLatinannotations and commentary developed around it.55 There is debate over theextenttowhichJulianhimselfwasresponsibleforthecompilationandcommen-tary56but,inanycase,itisagreedthatthecompilationwastheprimaryvehiclebywhich Roman law was known in Europe for hundreds of years. Radding andCiarallinotethat“onlytheNovelsintheformoftheEpitome Julianienjoyedanyappreciable readership in the early Middle Ages, while the other works [of theCorpus]makeatbestbriefappearancesandproducednointellectualtraditionoflastingsignificance.”57

¶18Ecclesiasticalofficialsmaintainedaninterest intheEpitome JulianiduetothesupportmanyofitsnovelsgavetotherightsoftheChurch,58butthespecificsofhowtheEpitomeandotherpartsoftheCJCsurvivedandweretransmitteddur-ing the early Middle Ages remain something of a mystery.59 The earliest of theEpitome Juliani’sknownmanuscriptsdatefromtheseventhoreighthcentury,60and

48. Asnotedearlier,twoaredoublets.Number25isthesameas120,and68duplicates97. 49. Noaillesprovidesatableshowingtheyearinwhicheachnovel(designatedbyitsnumberintheGreekCollectionof168)wasissued.1noAiLLes,supranote2,at256tbl.I.AnotherofhistablestranslatestheGreekCollectionnumberintothenumbergiventhatsamenovelintheAuthenticumandtheEpitome Juliani.See id.at258tbl.II.Seealsobiener,supranote2,at538app.IV,pt.5,foralistinwhichheprovides,adjacenttoeachofthenovelsasnumberedbyJulian,thatnovel’splaceinthe Greek Collection (as established by Contius’s 1571 edition) and its year of promulgation. ForinformationregardingtheGreekCollectiongenerally,seeinfra¶¶26–32. 50. For a list of the novels contained in the Greek Collection but missing from the Epitome Juliani,see1noAiLLes,supranote2,at155. 51. Id.(Number29);Kroll,supranote2,atvii. 52. wenger, supranote2,§84,at669. 53. The epitome’s paratitla are “glosses cross-referencing the Novels with the Code andDigest....”rAdding & ciArALLi,supranote23,at38.See alsokrüger,supranote2,§49,at359. 54. Liebs,supranote40,at244;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at160. 55. Liebs,supranote40,at220–21.See alsocohn, supranote2,at192–204,360–63. 56. See generallyLiebs,supranote40,at221–23;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at152–54;scheLtemA, supranote40,at52–53.ScheltemareferstotheEpitome Julianias“lecturenotes,sometimeswrittenupinconsiderabledetail.”Scheltema,supranote40,at57.Hegoesontodescribehow“[f]irsttheprofessor would dictate a continuous paraphrase or translation, called the Index, and during thesecondlecturehewouldmakegeneralobservationsonthesamepassage....”Id. 57. rAdding & ciArALLi, supranote23,at40.CohnalsonotesthattheEpitome JulianiwastheonlypartoftheJustinianlawusedinFranceintheearlyMiddleAges.Seecohn,supranote2,at30. 58. SeerAdding & ciArALLi,supra note23, at49;see alsocohn,supra note2,at40. 59. See generallyrAdding & ciArALLi,supra note23, at35–65. 60. See id.at37(providingtablesofCJCmanuscriptdates).


severalweremadeduring theCarolingianRenaissance.61 Inanycase, theEpitome Julianiwassothoroughlyaccepted,andsowellregarded,thatthehistorian-monkPaulusDiaconusbelievedittobeanofficialworkofJustinian.62

The Authenticum63

¶19Inthetwelfthcentury,theEpitome Julianilostitsstatusastheleadingedi-tionoftheNovelstothemoreextensiveLatinversionknownastheAuthenticum,whichsurfacedinBolognaaround1100.64ThisLatincollectionof134novelswassonamedbecauseglossators,includingtherenownedIrnerius,believedittobeanofficial,orauthentic,translationorderedbyJustinian.65Afteritceasedtobedeemedauthentic,thisversionwassometimesreferredtoastheVersio vulgata.66

¶20 The Authenticum includes 133 novels from 535–556—the original LatinversionofthefewissuedsolelyinLatin,theLatinversionsofnovelspromulgatedinbothLatinandGreek,andLatintranslationsofnovelsissuedonlyinGreek.(Theadditionallaw—number132—isfrom563andprobablywasaddedaftertheinitialcompilation).67Thus,although,withaminorexception(itencompassesonlyoneyearnotcoveredbytheEpitome Juliani),itismorecomprehensivethanthatepit-omeforthoseyears.Ontheotherhand,theglossatorsoftencreatedmanuscriptsfromthiscollectioninwhichonlyninety-sevennovelswereused,detachingfromthemtheothers(whichbecameknownasextravagantes)thatweredeemedirrele-vantforpractice.68

¶21ThenovelsintheAuthenticumarepresentedinroughchronologicalorder,thoughthedegreeofthisorderisopentointerpretation.69Thenovelsfollowing124appeartohavebeenakindofappendixaddedlaterinnospecialorder.70NoaillesbelievesthesamegroupofdocumentsfoundintheLiber legumservedasthebasisfortheAuthenticumandtheGreekCollectionof168,inpartbecausethefirst115

61. Id. at 47. See also cohn, supra note 2, at 39–40 (describing manuscripts of the Epitome Juliani);wenger, supranote2,§84,at677–78(same). 62. wenger, supranote2,§84,at669. 63. For more information on the Authenticum, see generally cohn, supra note 2, at 132–37;krüger, supranote2,§48,at355–57;1noAiLLes, supranote2,at160–78;wenger, supranote2,§84,at669–71;andKroll,supranote2,atvi–vii. 64. rAdding & ciArALLi, supranote23,at35–36;wenger, supranote2,§84,at670. 65. schiLLer, supra note 1, § 16, at 39; wenger, supra note 2, § 84, at 669–70. According toVinogradoff,“Irnerius...tookaprominentpartinthecollectionofJustinian’stextsbyreplacingthefragmentsoftheNovellae,hithertoquotedfromJulian’sEpitome,bytheso-calledAuthenticum....”pAUL vinogrAdoff, romAn LAw in medievAL eUrope47(1909). 66. see 1 rUdorff, supra note 43, § 114, at 320; frederick tomkins, the institUtes of the romAn LAw 174 (London,Butterworths1867). 67. See1 noAiLLes,supranote2,at161;wenger, supranote2,§84,at669. 68. Seekrüger, supranote2,§52,at384(notingtheyalsowerereferredtoasinutiles); wenger, supranote2,§84,at671.See alsobiener,supranote2,at547app.IV,pt.7(surveyingtheseninety-sevenselectednovels). 69. Küblerseesthischronologicalorderextendingtonumber124,whileKrügerseescontinuitythrough127.SeekübLer,supranote28,§42,at418;krüger,supranote2,§48,at356.Readerscanjudge for themselvesbyconsultingTableII in1noAiLLes,supranote2,at258–59.See alsobiener,supranote2,at540app.IV,pt.6(showinginonecolumnthenovelsoftheAuthenticumandinadja-centcolumnstheirGreekCollectionnumbersandyearsofpromulgation);supra ¶16. 70. krüger,supranote2,§48,at356.


novelsoftheAuthenticumareamongthoseofthefirst120oftheGreekCollection,with someof thosebeing inprecisely the sameorder, even though theyarenotstrictlychronological.71

¶22TheoriginsandpurposeoftheAuthenticumaremoredebatedthanthoseoftheothercompilations.Asmentionedabove,theglossatorsthoughtittobeanofficial translation ordered by Justinian for Italy after the pro petitio Vigili. Thistheory gradually lost favor, and, although Zachariae von Lingenthal took up itscauseinthelate1800s,itneverregainedpopularity.72Amongthefactorsarguingagainst theAuthenticum’sofficial statusare thepoorqualityof itsLatin transla-tionsfromtheGreek,theabsenceofthepro petitio Vigili(whichonewouldexpecttofindinit,wereitanofficialworkdesignedtofacilitatetheimplementationofthatpragmaticsanction),andits inclusionofmany lawsthathadnothingtodowith Italy. In addition, if an official translation had existed, other translationswould have been unnecessary, yet there is evidence that such translations didexist.73

¶23Theconsensus is thattheAuthenticumwascreatedinthemid-sixthcen-tury.KrollplacesitinJustinian’sreign,andNoaillesadvancesadateof556,eventhoughMommsenthoughtitmusthavebeencreatedintheeleventhcentury,dueto its“barbaric” Latin translations.74 Its place of origin also is in dispute: someargueitwascreatedinItalybysomeonewithapoorgraspofbothGreekandthelaw,whileothersclaim itwasmade inConstantinople,mainly forusebyLatin-speakingstudents.75

¶24Amorerecent,intriguinghypothesisadvancedbyScheltemasuggeststhattheAuthenticumisakindofkata poda76createdforLatin-speakingstudentswhohadahardtimeunderstandingtheparticularlydifficultGreekoftheNovels.77TheAuthenticum’spossibleoriginasaword-for-wordtranslationoftheGreeknovels,

71. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at164–66. 72. SeekübLer,supranote28,§42,at418;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at166–70.Krollalsodis-countedthistheory.SeeKroll,supranote2,atvi.ZachariaepresenteditinZachariaevonLingenthal,supranote43. 73. See1noAiLLes,supranote2,at170;wenger, supranote2,§84,at670.See alsocohn,supranote2,at133;JoLowicz & nichoLAs,supranote3,at497–98. 74. See1noAiLLes,supranote2,at163;wenger, supranote2,§84,at671;Kroll,supranote2,atvii. 75. Comparewenger, supranote2,§84,at670,withscheLtemA, supranote40,at15,57and1noAiLLes,supranote2,at170–71.CohnoffersIllyricumasitsplaceoforigin,whileJolowiczandNicholasproposethatthetranslationsweremadeatvarioustimesundertheauthorityofthePrefectofItalyatRavenna.Seecohn,supranote2,at136–37;JoLowicz & nichoLAs,supranote3,at498.See alsoKroll,supranote2,atvii(viewingeitherofthelattertwoconjecturesasplausible). 76. Kata podameans“followinginthefootsteps,”soakata podaisaliteraltranslation.Justinianallowedonlykata podasofhisLatincodificationintoGreek,asopposedtocommentaries,whichheforbadealtogether.kUnkeL,supranote1,at179.Thus,theliteraltranslationoftheGreeknovelsintoLatinwouldbeakata podainreverse.scheLtemA,supranote40,at57;see alsowenger,supranote2,§84,at669n.192. 77. See scheLtemA, supra note 40, at 52–57; Scheltema, supra note 40, at 57–58. SupportingScheltema are n. vAn der wAL, mAnUALe noveLLArUm JUstiniAni, at xii–xiii (2d ed. 1998); Liebs, supranote40,at266–69;andLiebs,supranote1,at252.ZachariaehadearliersuggestedtheLatintranslation of the Greek novels was a kata poda but had not advanced this as its purpose. SeeZachariaevonLingenthal,supranote43,at995.


witheachLatinwordsittingabovethecorrespondingGreekone,intheGreekwordorder,wouldseemtoexplainitsexistencebetterthantheperplexingsurvivalofanextremelyawkwardattemptataliterarytranslation.

¶25WhateverthenatureandsourceoftheAuthenticum,duringthelateMiddleAgesandtheRenaissanceitwasheldtobeJustinian’sofficialNovelscollection,andthuswashighlyvaluedandfrequentlycopied.Some129manuscriptversionshavebeenidentified—morethanthoseoftheEpitome Juliani.Thebestofthese is thethirteenthcenturyVienneseCodex.78

The Greek Collection of 168 79

¶26Ironically,themostextensiveversionofJustinian’sNovelsisthelastonetohavebecomeknownintheWest—acollectionof168items,nearlyallinGreek,thatcame to light around 1200. Two of the constitutions are repeated (75=104 and143=150),andanotheris includedinbothLatinandGreek(32=34)making165uniquelawsinall.80Themainbodyoflawscoversfrom535,justafterthesecondedition of the Code was issued, to 565, the end of Justinian’s reign. They arearranged chronologically byyear (except fornumbers24–29)untilnumber120,buttheyarenotchronologicalwithineachyear.81

¶27TheJustiniannovelsaresupplementedtotheyear575byfourconstitutionsofJustinII(140,144,148,and149),threeofTiberiusII(161,163,and164),andthreeorfouredictsofthepraetorianprefect,thelattersometimesbeingreferredtowiththeGreektermEparchica.82ItislikelythegroupofJustiniannovelsreacheditsbasic form in Constantinople during the reign of Tiberius II (around 575).83 Itappears as if the compiler, or compilers, had access to the Authenticum and theEpitome Juliani,oracollectioncommontoboth,becausenovels1–43oftheGreekCollection(years535–536)areinthesameorderasintheAuthenticumandnum-bers44–120(537–544)areintheidenticalorderoftheEpitome,withminorexcep-tions.84Theevidenceseemstoshowthat thenovels fromnumber120upto149werecomposedintwogroups—onearound556(numbers120–135)andthesec-ondin572(numbers135–149),whilethosefromnumber150through168wereaddedaround575asanappendixbythecompilerwhoputtheGreekCollectionintotheformitmaintainedforcenturies.85

78. wenger, supranote2,§84,at678. 79. FormoreinformationontheGreekCollection,seegenerallykrüger,supranote2,§48,at357–58;kUnkeL,supranote1,at176;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at178–81;schiLLer,supranote1,§16,at40;wenger,supranote2,§84,at671–72;Kroll,supranote2,atiii–vi;andLiebs,supranote1,at252. 80. kübLer,supranote28,§42,at419.Thirteenofthelawsinthe“GreekCollection”areactuallyinLatin.Seekrüger,supranote2,§48,at358. 81. Seebiener, supranote2,at90;krüger, supranote2,§48,at358;kübLer, supranote28,§42,at419. 82. Seekrüger,supranote2,§48,at357–58.See alsobiener,supranote2,at98;JoLowicz & nichoLAs,supranote3,at497;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at179. 83. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at179;Kroll,supranote2,atiii. 84. 1 noAiLLes,supranote2,at180,258tbl.II.See alsokrüger,supranote2,§48,at358. 85. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at180–81.


¶28ThegroupofthirteenJustinianedictsthatcompletestheGreekCollectiontoday was found appended to the Venetian manuscript version.86 These edictsrangeovertheentireperiodoftheNovels,butmostarefrom535–48,andthreearerepeated in thebasic collectionof168.87There is considerable speculationas towhenandwheretheedictsweregathered,butitseemslikelythegroupwasaddedasaunittotheGreekCollectionlongafteritsinitialcompilation.SomescholarsbelievethethirteenedictsderivefromamanuscriptcomposedinAlexandria.88TheBasilica89 does not mention them, nor does Byzantine jurisprudence in general.Wengerbelievedtheedictsarebetterthoughtofasaseparateentitythatoneownerof the Greek Collection attached to the Novels compilation,90 and Noailles sug-gestedtheycouldhavebeenaddedatanytimebetweentheninthandthirteenthcenturies.91

¶29ThemodernversionoftheGreekCollectionof168hasbeentransmittedmainlythroughtwomanuscripts—theVenetian,orMarcianus(socalledbecauseitwas housed in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice when it was examined), and theFlorentine, also called the Laurentianus (because it was held by the Laurentianlibrary there).92 The Venetian, probably created around the end of the twelfthcentury,93isconsideredthebetterofthetwo,asitappearstohavesufferedlessfromtheeditinganderrorsofcopyists.94TheFlorentine likelywasmadeconsiderablylater—in the fourteenth century—and was much muddled by well-meaningcopyists.95

¶30TheVenetianmanuscriptisheavilyglossedwithparatitla,scholia,andcriti-calnotes.96Init,thenovelsarenotyetdividedintochaptersinthemanuscript,but,

86. For a detailed first-hand description and analysis of this key manuscript version of theNovels,see2noAiLLes,supranote2,at5–83. 87. Edict1=Novel8,Edict6=Novel166,andEdict5isaLatinversionofNovel111inGreek.krüger,supranote2,§48,at358&nn.36–37.See alsobiener,supranote2,at509app.IV,pt.2. 88. See, e.g., 2 noAiLLes, supra note 2, at 40–42 (describing Zachariae’s theory as set out inZachariae von Lingenthal, Aus und zu den Quellen des Römischen Rechts, in 15 zeitschrift der sAvigny–stiftUng für rechtsgeschichte: romAnistische AbtheiLUng 365 (1894)). See also Kroll,supra note 2, at ix n.2. It is widely agreed that the bulk of the Greek Collection was compiled inConstantinople.See1noAiLLes,supranote2,at179–80. 89. The Basilica (imperial law) is the Byzantine adaptation of Justinian’s codification madefromGreeksummariesduringthereignofLeotheWise,probablyaround892.ItcombinesallfourunitsoftheCJC intoawholeandisheavilyannotated.TheBasilica is important inthehistoryoftheNovelsbecauseitprovedusefultoWesternscholarsinreconstructingandunderstandingsomenovels.ForinformationontheBasilica,seekUnkeL,supranote1,at179–81;Kroll,supranote2,ativ–vi;Sheltema,supranote40,at66–67;andSherman,supranote24,at364–65.AmoderneditionoftheBasilicaisbAsiLicorUm Libri Lx(GustavoErnestoHeimbachioed.&trans.,Leipzig,Barth1870). 90. wenger, supranote2,§84,at673. 91. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at44. 92. For Noailles’s description of the Marcianus, see id. at 5–45; for his description of theLaurentianus,seeid. at107–16.See alsobiener,supranote2,at551app.V(offeringdescriptionsoftheMarcianusandLaurentianus,respectively).ForKroll’sdetaileddescriptionsofthesemanuscripts,seeKroll,supranote2,atix–xi,xvi. 93. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at17. 94. Id.at42.See alsoKroll,supranote2,atxi. 95. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at137. 96. Foradescriptionofthese,seeid.at25–29.


accordingtoNoailles,theyshowsignsthatsuchadivisionwasplanned.97Contius(LeConte)wasresponsibleforthefirstchapterdivisionsinhis1559editionoftheAuthenticum;forhis1571editionhereworkedthemintothearrangementweseein modern versions: preface, chapters, and epilogue.98 A particularly importantaspectoftheVenetianisthatitistheonlycopyoftheGreekCollectionretainingallthenovelsubscriptions.99Ontheotherhand,theeighteenLatinnovelsarereplacedinitbyGreekepitomes,anditlacksthreeotherJustiniannovels,fourofJustinII,threeofTiberiusII,andthethreeedictsofthepraetorianprefects.100However,theVenetian manuscript of the Greek Collection was the primary source used bySchoellandKrollfortheireditionoftheNovelsthatbecamethestandardversionaspartofMommsen,Krüger,Schoell,andKroll’sCorpus Juris Civilis.101

¶31ThehistoryoftheFlorentinemanuscriptislesswellknownthanthatoftheVenetian,eventhoughthedeMedicifamilyonceownedit.Itsfirstfoliowastornout before modern scholars could examine it, thus eliminating any informationcontainedthereinabout itscreation.102Like theVenetian, theFlorentine containsparatitla and critical annotations, but fewer than the older manuscript. TheFlorentine also has scholia similar to those in the Basilica, as well as practice-oriented annotations.103 The Florentine, again like the Venetian, lacks the Latinnovels,but, in addition, it is missing twenty-three of theGreeknovels.Tellingly,theseare the sameas thosemissing fromtheBasilica.104However, theFlorentinemanuscript does contain the novels of Justin II and Tiberius and the Eparchica,whereastheVenetiandoesnot.

¶32Eachofthesetwomainmanuscriptshasacopythatalsofiguresinthetrans-missionoftheNovels.ThePalatino-Vaticanus(housedintheVaticanlibrary)wascopiedfromtheVenetianmanuscriptatthebeginningofthesixteenthcenturyandprovided the text for Scrimger’s 1558 edition of the Greek Collection.105 TheBononiensis(madeforLodovicoBolognini)wascopiedaroundthesametimefromtheFlorentinetext.106TheBononiensisisimportantfortworeasons:(1)itwascop-iedfromtheFlorentinemanuscriptbeforethelastsegmentofthelatterwasmuti-lated, thus making this copy the only source for novels 164–167 of the Greek

97. Id.at49–52. 98. Id.at52. 99. Id.at56–57. 100. Id.at45. 101. Schoell always gave that manuscript first place, though he had some reservations aboutit,lookedovermanyothersources,andwaswillingtocorrectit;nevertheless,KrollthoughtperhapsSchoellplacedtoomuchconfidenceinit.Kroll,supranote2,atxn.2.See also2noAiLLes,supranote2,at74.Foradditionalinformationonthisedition,seeinfra¶¶44–45. 102. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at97. 103. Id. at 112–16. Scholia are marginal notes commenting on the text. In this case, theyoften refer to the writings of classical Roman jurists. See peter stein, romAn LAw in eUropeAn history35(1999). 104. See2noAiLLes,supranote2,at120–21. 105. Scrimger’s edition is impp. iUstiniAni, imp. Leonis noveLLAe constitUtiones (geneva,HenryStephanus1558).Bienerdescribesthisvolumeatlength.beiner,supranote2,at367–72.See alsoKroll,supranote2,atxiii. 106. 2 noAiLLes, supra note 2, at 2. See also id. at 147–56 (describing this manuscript). ForBiener’sdescriptionofit,seebiener,supranote2,at562–63.


Collection;107and(2)itprovidedthetextforHaloander’s1531edition—thefirstprintedversionoftheGreekCollection.108

Other Collections

¶33OtherversionsofJustinian’sNovelsexist,andstillothersareknowntohaveexisted fromfragments that remain,butnoneof thesehashad the influenceonWesternlawexertedbythecollectionsdescribedabove.However,becausetheyaresometimescited,theyareworthmentioninghere.

¶34The Epitome Athanasii:109Around572,aByzantinejuristandrhetoricianknownasAthanasiusofEmesacreatedanepitomeof153novels,allbutoneofwhicharealso in theGreekCollection.110Like theEpitome Juliani, it appears tohavebeencreated for teachingpurposes,111but its summariesaremoredetailedthanthoseofJulianorTheodorus.112However,itomitsthenovelsofTiberiusandtheEparchicaandthusappearstohavebeenformedbeforethefinalversionoftheGreek Collection took shape.113 The Epitome Athenasii is unique among Novelcompilations in that its summaries are organized into twenty-two topics, orrubrics,insteadofbeinginroughchronologicalorder.Athanasius’sspecialcontri-butionsweretoprovidepracticeaidsintheformofparatitla that indicateaddi-tionalrubricsinthecompilationthatthenovelinquestionaddresses;114torefertorelevantportionsoftheCodeandDigest;115andtomaketheoreticalobservationsabout the laws, especially because of the extent to which they may have beenaffectedbysubsequentlaws.116

¶35 The Epitome Theodori:117 Another Byzantine jurist—Theodorus Scho-lasticusofHermopoliss—wroteaGreeksummaryofall thenovels in theGreekCollectionof168(inthesameorderandincludingeventhedoublets)sometimebetween572and602,perhapsin575,sincethatisthedateofthelastlawinclud-

107. 2noAiLLes,supranote2,at147. 108. Id. gregoriUs hALoAnder, noveLLArUm constitUtionUm dn iUstiniAni principis QUAe exstAnt et Ut exstAnt voLUmen(Nünberg,Io.,Petreius1531).Foradetaileddescriptionofthisvolume,seebeiner,supranote2,at341–48.ForadescriptionofhowHaloanderusedtheBononiensis,see2noAiLLes,supranote2,at162–67;Kroll,supranote2,atxiii. 109. A modern critical edition of this collection is dAs noveLLensyntAgmA des AthAnAsios von emesA (Dieter Simon & Spyros N. Trōianos eds., 1989) [hereinafterAthAnAsios von emesA]. TheeditorsdeemedanewversionnecessaryduetoflawsinHeimbach’soriginaledition,AnekdotA: AthAnAsii schoLAstici emiseni de noveLLis constitUtionibUs imperAtor JUstiniAni JUstiniQ commentAriUm (G.E. Heimbach ed. & trans., Leipzig, Barth 1838), which they call “miserable.”AthAnAsios von emesA,supra,atvi. 110. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at185;wenger, supranote2,§84,at672. 111. AthAnAsios von emesA,supranote109, at viii. 112. FormoreonTheodorus’sepitome,seeinfra¶35. 113. wenger, supra note 2, § 84, at 672. Simon and Trōianos believe Athanasius used acollectiongroundedinthesame“transmissionchain”(überlieferungskette).AthAnAsios von emesA,supranote109,atx. 114. SeeAthAnAsios von emesA, supranote109,atix;1noAiLLes,supranote2,at186. 115. AthAnAsios von emesA, supranote109,at x. 116. Id. 117. Zachariae edited a version of this published as AnekdotA: theodori schoLAstici breviAriUm noveLLArUm(KarlEduardZachariaevonLingenthaled.,Leipzig,Barth1843).


ed.118ThisEpitome Theodoriwascreatedforuseinpracticeandcontainsforeachnovel:itsnumberintheGreekCollection,itstitle,thebeginningwords,asummary,andthesubscription(butnoinscription).119ParallelprovisionsintheCodeandinother novels are noted as well. Its rubrics are shorter than those in the Epitome JulianibutlongerthanthoseoftheEpitome Athanasii.ManyscholiaintheBasilicaweretakenfromthiscompilation,butitwasnotknownintheWestuntilthenine-teenthcentury,whenitwasdiscoveredinaconventonMt.Athos.

Fragmented and Lost Works

¶36Severalothercompilationsareknownfromreferencesorfragments,butarenowlargelylost.ThemostimportantoftheseistheEpitome of Anonymous,whichiscitedfrequentlyinancientmanuscripts.120Thisepitomeseemstohavebeenverypopular but to have been similar to the other epitomes, especially the Epitome Juliani.121

Print Editions

¶37GenerationsoflawstudentsandlawyersreliedoncopiesofthemanuscriptsdiscussedabovefortheirknowledgeoftheNovels.Ashasbeennoted,formostofthemedievalperiodJustinian’scodificationwasknowninEuropechieflythroughwrittencopiesoftheEpitome Juliani.Around1100,manuscriptsoftheAuthenticumappearedinItaly,andbyabout1200,earlyintheRenaissance,theVenetianmanu-scriptoftheGreekCollectionwasknowntoscholars.

¶38Itwasnotuntil1476,however,thattheNovelswasprinted.ThisfirstprinteditionwasbasedonthetextoftheAuthenticumandwasmadeinRome,appar-entlyaspartofthewholeCJC,notasanindividualprintingoftheNovels.122TheCJCwasorganizeddifferentlythenthannow:theDigestwasissuedinthreevol-umes;thefirstninebooksoftheCodecomprisedafourthvolume;andthefifthvolumeconsistedoftheInstitutes,thelastthreebooks(Tres libri)oftheCode,andtheentireNovels(usuallybasedontheAuthenticum).123Thisfifthvolume,ofwhich

118. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,at181–83. 119. wenger, supranote2,§84,at672. 120. For information on these lost collections, see 1 noAiLLes, supra note 2, at 199–227; andwenger, supranote2,§84,at673–75.NoaillesprovidesacomparisonofthesequenceofnovelsintheEpitome Juliani,theGreekCollection,andtheEpitome of Anonymous.See1noAiLLes,supranote2,at260tbl.III. 121. see1noAiLLes,supranote2,at200–01. 122. For full bibliographic information on this volume, see biener, supra note 2, at 322 (cit-ingvoL. o. inst. extr. gLoss.(Rome,Pulcher1476)).ThevolumesoftheDigestandCodethatarethoughttohavebeenissuedinthissethavenotbeenfound.schiLLer,supra note1,§12,at30n.3.RudorffreportsthattheEpitome JulianiwasfirstissuedinprintasapartoftheLeges Longobardorumin1512.1rUdorff, supranote43,§122,at346. 123. See schiLLer, supra note 1, § 12, at 29–30. For an example of such a fifth volume,see 5 corpUs JUris civiLis iUstiniAnei (Lugduni 1627), available at http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57376r.ThisvolumeisalsoavailableinEuropeana,http://europeana.eu/portal(lastvisitedMay4,2010).


the Novels were a part, was known as the volumen parvum, or lesser volume,becauseitwasnotconsideredtobeasimportantastheothers.

¶39Earlyprinteditionsreflectedtheflawsofthemanuscriptsfromwhichtheyderived.124TherewouldbenopointinlistingherethemanyeditionsoftheNovelsthathavebeenprintedoverthecenturies.Bienerprovidesanextensive listingofthem up to 1822 in an appendix to his monumental history of the Novels.125However, it is useful to note here editions of special historical importance andmoderncriticaleditions.

¶40Inthesixteenthcentury,severalscholarscreatededitionsoftheNovelsthatimproved considerably on Renaissance manuscripts. Haloander’s publication of1531alreadyhasbeennotedasbeingthefirstprintversionoftheGreekCollectionof168novels.Hiseditionisimportantforsettingthesequenceofthenovelsandattaching the supplement containing the thirteen Justinianedicts.126 Itwas rela-tivelysoonthereafter,in1558,whenScrimgereditedaprinteditionbasedonthePalatino-VaticanuscopyoftheVenetianmanuscript,alsonotedabove.Thus,atthisearlydate, twoprintversionsof themostcompletemanuscript traditionfortheNovelswereavailable.In1571,Contius,whoin1559hadpublishedaseparateprinteditionoftheNovelsbasedontheAuthenticum, issuedaversionoftheCJC,theNovels segment of which he based on both that Authenticum and the GreekCollection;healsoarrangedtheNovelsinamostlychronologicalorder.127

¶41 Scores of editions of the Novels were published in the seventeenth andeighteenthcenturies,butnogreatadvancesweremadeintextualcriticismduringthisperiod.128However,greatadvancesmadeinRomanlawscholarshipandpale-ographyinthenineteenthcenturyledtovastlyimprovedtextsandseveralcriticaleditionsofthethreeNovelsmanuscripttraditions.129

¶42Unfortunately,theKriegelbrothersproducedaneditioneditio stereotypaofthe CJC, completed in 1843, that did not take the greatest advantage of theseadvances.130 Osenbrüggen prepared the Novels for this edition based on severaltexts,includingtheVenetianandFlorentinemanuscriptsoftheGreekCollectionof

124. krüger,supranote2,§53,at386. 125. biener, supra note 2, at 317–427 (editions from 1476–1822); id. at 427–31 (undatededitions).Forbrieferoverviews,seekrüger,supranote2,§53,at386–89;andKroll,supranote2,atxiii–xvi. 126. See vAn der wAL, supra note 77, at xv (referring to Haloander’s version as the editio princeps). 127. AUthenticAe seU noveLLAe constitUtiones, d. JUstiniAni sAcrAtiss (Ant. Contiused.,Lugduni,Gul.Rovillium1571).RudorffnotesthatContiususedtheeditionsofCujacius(1562)andA.Augustinus(1567)asthebasisforhisedition.1rUdorff, supranote43,§122,at345.Foradditional description of Contius’s contributions to the literary history of the Novels, see Graves,Justinianus,supranote3,at673;Kroll,supranote2,atxv.Contius’seditionswerethemostfrequentlyuseduntilthoseofSchoellandKroll. 128. krüger, supra note 2, § 53, at 387. Krüger allows the Gebauer and Spangenberg CJCeditionof1776–1797asanexception.Id.§53,at388. 129. For a description of some of this process, see rAdding & ciArALLi, supra note 23, at1–33(chapter1,Paleography and History). 130. corpUs JUris civiLis (Albert Kriegel, Moritz Kriegel, Emil Herrmann & EduardOsenbrüggeneds.,Leipzig,Baumgarten1833–1843).


168.131ThiseditiondidnotsatisfyRomanlawscholars,but,forunknownreasons,S.P.ScottchoseitasthebasisforhisEnglishtranslation(moreonwhichbelow).TheAuthenticumreceiveditsfirstmodern,criticaltreatmentaroundthissametime(1846–1851), when Heimbach produced his edition of it, based on the Contius1559 Paris edition.132 A modern, critical edition of the Epitome Juliani did notappearuntilHänelpublishedhisin1873.133

¶43In1881,ZachariaevonLingenthaleditedaversionoftheGreekCollectioninwhichheintegratedtheedictsofthepraetorianprefectsandtheedictsofemper-orsJustinIIandTiberiusbydate.However,becausemuchremainsuncertainaboutthedatesoftheedicts,hisnumberingcausedagooddealofconfusionandconcernandwasnotacceptedbyhispeers,despitethework’sotherscholarlymerit.134

¶44Itwasnotuntil1895thataNovelscollectionbasedonthebestofallmanu-scriptsandmodernscholarshipwas issued inacriticaledition.Thisversionwaspartofthemonumentaleditio stereotypaoftheCJCeditedbyMommsen,Krüger,Schoell,andKroll.135ThiseditionoftheNovels,begunbySchoellandfinishedbyKroll, provides the original Greek text in one column, the Latin version of theAuthenticum(totheextentitoverlapswiththeNovelsoftheGreekCollection)inthe facing column, and a modern Latin translation beneath. It also offers theEpitome Juliani,theedicts,andseveralotherconstitutionsinanappendix,inaddi-tiontoprovidingcopiousannotationsandvariantreadings.

¶45 It is generally agreed that Schoell and Kroll’s version of the Novels“sur-passesall itspredecessorsandisequal totheeditionsof theDigestandCodebyMommsenandKrüger.”136ThestereotypeeditionoftheCJCofwhichitisaparthas become the standard edition, reprinted frequently. The consensus is that“compar[ed]withthisstereotypeedition...oldergeneraleditionsoftheCorpus iuriscanbeusedonlyasauxiliarymaterial,”137andthatit“benefitsfromallofthepreviousworkandisitscrowning.”138

131. wenger, supra note 2, § 84, at 678. For information regarding Osenbrüggen’s edition,seealsoKroll,supranote2,atxvi. 132. AUthenticUm noveLLArUm constitUtionUm iUstiniAni versio vULgAtA (GustavErnestHeimbached.,Leipzig,Barth1851).wenger, supranote2,§84,at678.SchoellandKrollusedHeimbach’seditionextensively.SeeKroll,supranote2,atxvi. 133. iULiAni epitome LAtinA noveLLArUm iUstiniAni (Gustav Haenel ed., Leipzig, Hinrichs1873).Hänel’sworkhasbeencriticizedbymodernscholars.SeeLiebs, supranote40,at246(describ-ingHänel’seditionas“especiallyunsatisfactoryandunclear”)(author’stranslationfromGermantoEnglish).AnewversionofHänel’sworkwaspublishedrecently.iULiAni epitome LAtinA noveLLArUm iUstiniAni(GustavoHänel,PieroFiorelli&AnnaMarieBartolettiColomboeds.,2ded.1996). 134. noveLLAe QUAe vocAntUr (Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal ed., Leipzig,Tübner1881).See1noAiLLes,supranote2,atxii–xiv;vAn der wAL,supranote77,atxv.KrollpraisesthevalueofZachariae’sscholarlywork.SeeKroll,supranote2,atxiii–xiv. 135. corpUs iUris civiLis (Theodorus Mommsen et al. eds., Berlin, Weidmann 1889–1895)[hereinafter mommsen corpUs JUris civiLis]. Kroll’s preface describes in detail the history of theNovels,themanuscriptsheandSchoellused,hisevaluationsofthem,andmore.Unfortunately,thiswealthofinformationisrelativelyinaccessibletothemodernreader,asitisinLatinandapparentlyhasnotbeentranslatedintoamodernlanguage(thoughithasbeenminedforinformationbysomemodernwriters).SeeKroll,supranote2. 136. kübLer,supranote28,§42,at424(author’stranslationfromGermantoEnglish). 137. kUnkeL, supranote1,at223. 138. 1noAiLLes,supranote2,atxiv(author’stranslationfromFrenchtoEnglish).


Translations

¶46ScholarsalsobeganinthenineteenthcenturytotranslatetheNovels(andtherestoftheCJC)intomodernEuropeanlanguages.TheGermanversionoftheCJCeditedbyOtto,Schilling,andSintenisisoneofthemostimportanttransla-tions.139FreieslebenandSchneidercreatedtheNovelsportionofthistranslation,basedmainlyonaLatintranslationoftheGreekCollection,supplementedbytheAuthenticum,theEpitome Juliani,andtheBasilica.140

¶47Surprisingly,itwasnotuntilthetwentiethcenturythatanyonetranslatedeithertheCodeortheNovelsintoEnglish.141Intheearlypartofthatcentury,twoAmericanslaunchedintothetaskseparately,ignorantofoneanother’sefforts.142S.P.Scott’stranslationofJustinian’scodificationappearedin1932,thoughhispref-ace isdated tenyears earlier.143Asnotedpreviously,he chose touse theKriegelbrothers’ CJC as the basis of his work instead of Mommsen and Krüger’s, eventhoughthe latterclearlywasregardedas thesuperiorversion.Scott’s translationwasnotwellreceived.144

¶48Fortunately,JusticeFredBlumedidusetheMommsenstereotypeeditionasthebasisofhisEnglishtranslationofboththeCodeandtheNovels,rightfromthestartofhisworkaround1920.145AsJusticeBlumerecalledlater:“SomeofthenovelsweretranslatedalongwiththetranslationoftheCodehavingabearingonthesubjectsdealtwithinthe latter. . . .Whentheseweretranslated,thenumbertranslated was so great that I thought it would be just as well to translate themall.”146Healsonoted:“[A]partial incentivetothatwasthefactthattheLatinofSchoell[intheNovels]is,generallyspeaking,easyascomparedwiththeLatinintheCode.”147

¶49JusticeBlume’sreactiontoScott’stranslation,aswellasthenegativereac-tionofotherstothattranslation,madeBlumedeterminedtokeepworkingonhissolo translation of the Code and Novels over the course of more than two

139. dAs corpUs JUris civiLis (Carl Eduard Otto, Bruno Schilling & Carl FriedrichFerdinandSinteniseds.&trans.,Leipzig,Focke1830–1833)[hereinafterotto corpUs JUris civiLis].JusticeFredBlumeusedthisasanadjunctforhisEnglishtranslationoftheCodeandNovels. 140. See7id.ativ. 141. The Institutes and parts of the Digest had been translated into English, but not theCodeorNovels.ThemodernEnglishversionoftheentireDigestisthe digest of JUstiniAn,supranote45. 142. SeeKearley,supranote4,at538,¶30. 143. S.P.Scott,Preface to1civiL LAw, supranote4,at49. 144. See Kearley,supranote4,at538–39,¶30. 145. See id. at 531–33, ¶¶ 16–19. Rumors of Blume’s manuscript translation of the NovelscirculatedformanyyearsamongRomanlawspecialistsinAmerica.See, e.g.,schiLLer,supranote1,§16,at40;Sass,supranote3,at231n.11. 146. Fred Blume, [History of the Translation and Its Background] 9 (n.d.) (untitled manu-scriptannexedtoLetterfromFredBlumetoClydePharr,Professor,VanderbiltUniv.(Dec.28,1943))(onfileinBlumeCollection,H69–10,Wyo.StateArchives,Reference,Research&Hist.PhotoUnit,Wyo.Dep’tofStateParks&CulturalResources,Cheyenne,Wyo.). 147. Id.


decades.148 A newly scanned version of his annotated English translation of theNovelsisavailableontheUniversityofWyomingwebsite.149

Electronic Editions of the Texts and Relevant Treatises

¶50Unlike Justice Blume, who had to spend many hours, and much money,acquiringthroughbookdealers thematerialsheneededtopursuehis interest inRomanlaw,150modernscholarscangainaccesstomuchofitforfreeonline.Manyoftheworksmentionedinthisarticle,forinstance,areavailableelectronicallyinGoogleBooks.Thequalityofthescannedversionsvaries,notallitemsareproperlylabeled, and not all volumes of a set are always available. Biener’s Geschichte der Novellen Justinian’s,151 for example, is frustratinglyblurred in spots, volume1ofMommsenandKrüger’sclassiceditionoftheCJC152islabeledvolume2inboththelistviewandcoverview,andonlyvolumes1,6,and7oftheOtto,Schilling,andSintenisGermantranslation153arethere.However,forthemostparttheelectroniccopiesareclearandeasytofind,anditsurelyisbettertohaveafewvolumesofasetavailableonlinethannone.

Conclusion

¶51Thankstotheeffortsoflibrariansandcopyists,Justinian’snovellae constitu-tionessurvivedthefalloftheEasternRomanEmpireandwerereconstitutedbythepainstakingeffortsofmanyscholarsacrossthecenturies.Letushopethatwe,theirsuccessors in the digital age, are up to the task of preserving these fundamentaldocumentsanddisseminatingthemtofuturegenerations.

148. SeeKearley,supranote4,at537–38,¶¶29–30. 149. Univ. of Wyo. College of Law, Introduction to Justinian’s Novels, 2d Edition, http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/novels2.asp(lastvisitedApr.27,2010). 150. See Kearley,supranote4,at530–33,¶¶14–18. 151. biener,supranote2. 152. mommsen corpUs JUris civiLis, supranote135. 153. otto corpUs JUris civiLis,supranote139.


Appendix

cited Public domain Works Available Online

InthefollowinglistIhaveidentifiedalloftheitemsreferredtointhisarticleforwhichIfoundafreefull-textversiononline.Ihavenottriedtocreateacom-pletebibliographyofCJCeditionsorRomanlawavailableonline.NorhaveIaddedthepermanentlinkstotheseworks,astheyaremonstrouslylong,andallthebooksnotedarereadilydiscoverablebyanadvancedsearch.

Unlessotherwise indicated, the itemsare allonGoogleBooks (http://books.google.com). Two others I found only on the new “virtual European library,”Europeana (http://www.europeana.eu/portal), which was launched officially in2010.GiventhattwoofthesourcesfortheworksdigitizedonEuropeanawillbethe Bibliothèque National de France and the British Library, it is reasonable tobelievethatmoreitemsrelevanttothistopicwillappearthereinthecomingyears.

AllworksarepostedonGoogleBooks,exceptthosemarkedwithan*,whichareavailableonEuropeana.

●● Anekdota: Theodori Scholastici Brevarium Novellarum.KarlEduardZachariaevonLingenthal,ed.Leipzig:Barth,1843.

●● Authenticum Novellarum Constitutionum Iustiniani Versio Vulgata. GustavErnstHeimbach,ed.Leipzig:Barth,1846–1851.

●● Basilicorum Libri LX. Gustav Ernst Heimbach, ed. & trans. Leipzig: Barth,1833–1870[volumes2and5].

●● Biener,FriedrichAugust.Geschichte der Novellen Justinians.Berlin:Dümmler,1824.

●● ConratCohn,Max.Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des Römischen Rechts im Früheren Mittelalter.Leipzig:J.C.Hinrichs,1891.

●● Corpus Iuris Civilis.TheodoreMommsenetal.,eds.Berlin:Weidmann,1889–1895.

●● Corpus Juris Civilis.Albert Kriegel et al., eds. Leipzig: Baumgarten, 1828–43[volumes1and3].

●● Das Corpus Juris Civilis.CarlEdwardOttoetal.,eds.Leipzig:Focke,1831–1839[volumes6and7].

●● *Corpus Juris Civilis Iustinianei.5, Volumen Legum Paruum....Lugduni[Lyon,France]:Iullieron,1627.

●● [A] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.WilliamSmith,ed.London:JohnMurray,1876.

●● *Iuliani Epitome Latina Novellarum Iustiniani.GustavHaenel,ed. Leipzig:J.C.Hinrichs,1873.

●● Krüger, Paul. Geschichte der Quellen und Litteratur des Römischen Rechts.Leipzig:DunckerandHumblot,1888.

●● Novellae Quae Vocantur.C.E.ZachariaevonLingenthal,ed.Leipzig:Teubner,1881.

●● Rudorff, Adolf Friedrich von. Römische Rechtsgeschichte. Leipzig: Tauchnitz,1857.


●● Sohm,Rudolph.The Institutes. JamesCrawfordLedlie, trans.,3ded.Oxford:Clarendon,1907.

●● Tomkins, Frederick James. The Institutes of the Roman Law. London:Butterworths,1867.

●● Vinogradoff,Paul.Roman Law in Medieval Europe. London;NewYork:Harper&Brothers,1909.

●● ZachariaevonLingenthal,KarlEduard. Zur Geschichte des Authenticum und des Epitome Novellarum des Antecessor Julianus, in SitzungsberichtederKöniglichPreussischenAkademiederWissenschaftenzuBerlin45(1882):973.

Documents

The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels · 377 LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 102:3 [2010-22] The Creation and Transmission of Justinian’s Novels* timothy g. Kearley** Drawing