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359 MILITARY LAW — A STUDY IN COMPARATIVE LAW 359 termined by the advice of men learned in the law. Accordingly, as the class of jurisconsuUi succeeded to the college of pontiffs as the trained lawyers of Rome, the opinion or responsum of a jurisconsuUus was the means of determining the legal questions involved in a case which was submitted for adjudication. The opinions or responsa of a learned jurisconsuUus were collected as we collect decisions of courts in Anglo-American law and they were the basis of subsequent analysis, discussion, and commenti^^ 1* "The beginnings of professional knowledge and administration of the law are found with the pontifices. As knowing and guarding the calendar and the law of the sacra, which had great influence over the secular law in mercantile transactions and in procedure, they had brought this as well within the sphere of their activities. The knowledge of the law which grew up within the collegium flourished there and became a sort of secret science of the pontifices, by means of which the position of power of the patricians was greatly strengthened. Any one who wished to conclude juristic acts or to institute legal proceedings did well to have the pontifices point out to him the right way. This condition of affairs was changed only in the fifth century by the publication of the calendar, which was made in the year 450 A. u. C. (304 B. c.) by Cn. Flavius, a secretary of the pontifex Appius Claudius; and by the publication of the forms of actions which had been drawn up by the pontifices (jus Flavianum), as well as by the fact that a half century later the plebeians, too, were admitted to the college of the pontifices. The boast is made concerning the first plebeian pontifex maximus, Tiberius Coruncanius that he primus puhlice jus vicile professus est. By this means the juristic tradition of the pontifices, which had been collected up to this time, became generally accessible; and thus began an independent jurisprudence, which soon developed in great profusion. " The activity of the jurists in Rome was from the beginning a predominately prac- tical one. Apart from their cooperation in juristic acts (cavere), it was manifested chiefly in the rendering of legal opinions (responsa) on concrete practical cases. The weight of these opinions was determined according to their external basic principles, and the standing of the jurists by which they were rendered. They had no inherent compulsory authority over the judex. Frequently in legal proceedings opinion was opposed to opinion. This led in court to a conflict of opinions (disputatio fori), which was eventually ended by the fact that one view would compel a continued recogni- tion in practice, and would thereby become law by usage. Therefore these responsa possessed no statutory force as yet. "They did not attain statutory force until the period of the Empire, and, indeed, imder Augustus through the decree that the responsa should hereafter be bestowed by virtue of Imperial authority. This arrangement was kept up by the later Emperors; and the jus respondendi, which they exercised themselves by granting their rescripts, was bestowed by them as a special favor upon prominent jurists. With reference to the form of these responsa, it was provided that they must be given in writing and must be sealed. Since such a responsum was now given under Imperial authority, it was binding upon the judge, unless a contradictory opinion of another jurist, who was Ukewise authorized, was produced. In the beginning this authoritative validity be- longed only to the responsum as such; and for this reason it was applied to the indi- vidual proceedings only for which the responsum was granted. Soon this authorita- tive validity was granted to opinions which were no longer at hand in their official