Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 10.pdf/339

 3i0

the fifteenth day before the Calends of March, A. D. 438. By a constitution bearing a date of A. D. 435, the Emperor invested the compilers of his code with power to retrench what was superfluous, to add what was necessary, to change what was ambiguous, and to correct what was incongruous. Jus tinian afterwards invested his commissioners with more ample powers. They were even authorized to consolidate several constitu tions into one. The Theodosian Code con tains the edicts and rescripts of sixteen emperors, and its chronology extends from A. D. 312 to A. D. 438, thus embracing a period of 126 years. It commences with the reign of the first Christian emperor, and there is a systematic exclusion of the con stitutions issued by the military adventurers who, during the interval, were finally un successful in their attempts to usurp the government, but the election is not limited to the constitutions of the Christian princes, for here we find the apostate Julian, among other imperial lawgivers. The code is di vided into sixteen books, and the laws which compose each title are arranged in chrono logical order. The body of laws thus prepared by the Emperor of the East was immediately adopted by the Emperor of the West. The Gothic conquerors of the West permitted their Roman subjects to enjoy the benefit and protection of their own laws, and a com pendium of those laws was even prepared under the auspices of Alaric, King of the Visigoths, whose dominions comprehended certain provinces of Spain and Gaul. This collection contains an abridgment of the three codes of Gregorius, Hermogenianus, and Theodosins, together with some novels, or new constitutions, and an epitome of the institutes of Gaius, extracts from the Senten tial of Paulus, and from the books of Papinian. It was completed in the year, A. D. 506, and, as we are expressly informed, was confirmed by approbation of the bishops, who must have been consulted on account

of their learning. This work has for several centuries been known under the title of Aniani Breviarinm, or the Abridgment of Anianus. The different copies appear to have been attested by his signature, and, according to the opinion of Gothofredus, he presents himself, not as the compiler of the books, but merely as the king's referendary. To all the books contained in the collection, with the exception of the epitome of Gaius, is added an interpretatio or explanation. The Manuscripts of the Theodosian Code do not all contain the same explanation, and two explanations are sometimes subjoined to the same law. It appears from the auctoritas that explanations were inserted by order of King Alaric, and we must suppose others to have been derived from a different source. The ancient commentary is to be found in Gothofredus' edition of the Theo dosian Code. This commentary obtained so much credit that it appears in some measure to have superseded the text. When the writers of the Middle Ages quote the Theo dosian laws, they very commonly refer, not to the text, but to the commentary. It is only in this ancient abridgment that a considerable portion of the Theodosian Code has apparently been transmitted to our times. For the first edition of the code, which was printed at Basel in the year 1528, we are indebted to the commendable zeal of Joannes Sichardus. He had access to several manuscripts, but all of them appear to have been so defective that very many titles are not to be found in his pub lication, and, indeed, several books present themselves in the most mutilated form. He had subjoined the ancient interpretatio to gether with a collection of the Novellae Constitutiones of Theodosius, Valentinian, and some other emperors. His edition is without annotations, but he has inserted various readings in the margin. After an interval of twenty-two years a more com plete edition of the Theodosian Code was published by Jean du Tillet, who has, how