Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

codification 251
the commission. Justinian was then busy with the rebuilding of S. Sophia.
The commissioners made many changes on their own initiative.
A further project was the production, alongside the Digest, of a text for
those embarking on the study of law. This was achieved in the form of a
compilation in four books, averaging 2,200 standard lines, drawn from the
introductory works (Institutiones) currently available. The new text, Justinian’s
Institutes, chose not to disclose the provenance of the excerpts of which it is
composed. 48 They mostly come from Gaius’ Institutes but also from his Res
Cottidianae and from the Institutes of Florentinus, Marcianus and Ulpian. In
addition some passages were borrowed from the already completed Digest,
and summaries were added of the most important imperial reforms. 49 Once
the principal task of compiling the Digest had been completed, the work of
compiling the Institutes was undertaken by Tribonian and two famous professors
of law, Theophilus of Constantinople and Dorotheus of Beirut. It was
quickly done. By 21 November 533 it was possible to bring the Institutes into
use. 50 On 16 December, together with the promulgation of the Digest,
Justinian established a new legal curriculum. 51 In Constantinople and Beirut
the course of study lasted five years. Instead of the customary diet of classical
legal authors, it was now ordained that it should proceed from the
Institutes through the first thirty-six books of the Digest, arriving in the fifth
year at the study of the Codex.
Once again the legislative machinery was not brought to a halt by the
completion of the three parts of the codification. On the contrary, the
effect of the study in depth of the legal literature of the past was to precipitate
numerous reforms even after the work of compilation had been concluded.
These now came in the form of Novels which were, with a few
exceptions, always in Greek. Between January and August 535 alone there
were thirty-two, and down to 546 another 115. Their effect was to render
obsolete many provisions in the codification. After 546 the rate of legislation
fell back to a more normal level. In 534 Justinian was still planning an
official collection of Novels, 52 and in 554 he proposed to promulgate for the
new western provinces all those issued up to that date, presumably with
appropriate deletions and translations. 53 Neither of these projects came to
fruition. However, many private collections of Novels were made. They
once again retain the outworks of the legislation and add a short descriptive
title. Most Novels, short ones excepted, were divided into chapters.
We know of four such collections. 54 The second of these is built on the
first, which itself had been slightly enlarged four times. It originally
reached to 544 and numbered 111 Novels, but actually contained only 110,
since one occurred twice. Thereafter it was extended in 548 to include four
48 In general, see Stein and Lewis (1983). 49 Zocco-Rosa (1908–10).
50 Inst. Iust., Const. Imperatoriam. 51 Digest Const. Omnem. 52 CJ Const. Cordi 4fin.
53 Nov. Iust. App. 7.11. 54 Noailles (1912–14); van der Wal (1964).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008