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The Greek East and Roman Law: The Dossier of M. Cn. Licinius Rufinus*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2012

Fergus Millar
Fergus Millar
Affiliation:
Brasenose College, Oxford
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In A.D. 530 the Emperor Justinian gave orders that a commission of lawyers should take the 1,500 libri containing the works of the Classical Roman jurists, and condense them into a single work, the Digesta or Pandectae. His purpose was that the result should be a coherent whole, stripped of repetition and contradiction. Fortunately for us, what they actually produced was something which is quite different, and belongs to a type which is familiar to all modern students of the Ancient World: a sourcebook. For what the commission in fact did was to arrange the work by topics, and under each topic to assemble a series of examples of legal reasoning extracted from the surviving works of Classical jurists. Nearly all of these jurists had worked in the Antonine and Severan age, with a few belonging to the period of the Tetrarchy.

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Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 89 , November 1999 , pp. 90 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Fergus Millar 1999. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

References

1 Honoré, T., Ulpian (1982).Google Scholar

2 Dig. 50.15.1 pr. (Ulpianus, libro primo de censibus). See Millar, F., ‘The Roman coloniae of the Near East: a study in cultural relations’, in Solin, H. and Kajava, M. (eds), Roman Eastern Policy and Other Studies in Roman History (1990), ch. 7, on pp. 31–9Google Scholar; idem, The Roman Near East, 31 BC–AD 337 (1993), 285–95.

3 Woolf, G., ‘Becoming Roman, staying Greek: culture, identity and the civilizing process in the Roman East’, Proc. Camb. Philol. Soc. 40 (1994), 116CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Lenel, O., Palingenesia Iuris Civilis: Iuris Consultorum Reliquiae quae Iustiniani Digestis continentur, ceteraque iuris prudentiae civilis fragmenta minora secundum auctores et libros I–II (1889)Google Scholar.

5 Lenel, op. cit. (n. 4), I, columns 559–62, Fr. 12. Dig.24.1.41 (Licinius Rufinus, libro sexto regularum): ‘Nam et Imperator Antoninus constituit, ut ad processus viri uxor ei donare possit’. Note that Gualandi, G., Legislazione imperiale e giurisprudenza I (1963), 229–30Google Scholar, goes straight from Caracalla to Severus Alexander, attributing no rulings to either Macrinus or ‘Elagabal’.

6 For Paulus' Quaestiones see Lenel, op. cit. (n. 4), I, columns 1181–1221. For the query from Rufinus see Fr. 1382, Dig. 40.13.4 (Paulus, libro duodecimo quaestionum): ‘Licinnius Rufinus Iulio Paulo…’. Variation in the spelling of ‘Licinius’ is found also in the contemporary inscriptions, see below.

7 See the important study by Kunkel, W., Herkunft und soziale Stellung der römischen Juristen 2 (1967), 244–5Google Scholar. Kunkel (p. 245, n. 507) hints at a Greek origin, and the suggestion is put more positively by Pflaum, H.-G., Les procurateurs équestres (1950), 267 and n. 7.Google Scholar

8 PIR 1 L 163 (the jurist); 164 (the man from Thyatira).

9 Lendon, J., Empire of Honour: the Art of Government in the Roman World (1997).Google Scholar

10 PIR 2 L 236.

11 Herrmann, P., ‘Die Karriere eines prominenten Juristen aus Thyateira’, Tyche 12 (1997), 111Google Scholar.

12 Tituli Asiae Minoris V. Tituli Lydiae 2. Regio septentrionalis ad occidentem vergens, ed. P. Herrmann (1989).

13 Jones, C. P., ‘The pancratiasts Helix and Alexander on an Ostian mosaic’, JRA 11 (1998), 293Google Scholar.

14 See Millar, F., ‘Empire and city, Augustus to Julian: obligations, excuses and status’, JRS 73 (1983), 76ff.Google Scholar, esp. 90, 94.

15 Millar, op. cit. (n. 14), 90.

16 See Deininger, J., Die Provinziallandtage der römischen Kaiserzeit (1965), 91–6Google Scholar; Bowersock, G. W., ‘Zur Geschichte des römischen Thessaliens’, RhM 108 (1965), 277Google Scholar; Chef, W. J., ‘The Roman borders between Achaia and Macedonia’, Chiron 17 (1987), 135Google Scholar.

17 See Corbier, M., ‘Cité, territoire et fiscalité’, in Epigrafia: Actes du Collogue international d'épigraphie latine en mémoire d'Attilio Degrassi (1991), 629Google Scholar, on pp. 640f., cited by Herrmann, op. cit. (n. 11), 112.

18 SEG XVII, no. 528. See Millar, F., The Emperor in the Roman World 2 (1992), 390Google Scholar.

19 See Honoré, T., Emperors and Lawyers 2 (1994)Google Scholar, with my review article on the first edition (1981), ‘A new approach to the Roman jurists’, JRS 76 (1986), 272ff.Google Scholar

20 See Dietz, K., Senatus contra principem. Untersuchungen zur senatorischen Opposition gegen Kaiser Maximinus (1980)Google Scholar, cited by Herrmann, op. cit. (n. 11), 121.

21 ILS, no. 1186 (L. Caesonius Lucillus Macer Rufinianus); AE 1903, no. 337 = ILS, no. 8979: ‘[comiti? Augg.]nn. inter XX cos.’ Zosimus 1.14.2 speaks only of twenty senators.

22 I.K.Ephesos III, no. 802 (Ann. Epig. 1971, no. 455; SEG XVII, no. 505).

23 Philostratus, Vit. Soph. 2.24.2: ὑπάτοις δὲ ἐγγραΦείς. See esp. Eck, W. and Roxan, M. M., ‘Zwei Entlassungsurkunden — tabulae honestae missionis — für Soldaten der römischen Auxilien’, Archaeologisches Korrepondenszblatt 28 (1998), 95, 98–9Google Scholar. For M. Ulpius Ofellius Theodorus see Mourges, J.-L., ‘Les formules «rescripsi» «recognovi» et les étapes de la rédaction des souscriptions impériales sous le Haut-Empire romain’, MEFRA 107 (1995), 295–8Google Scholar.

24 Herrmann, op. cit. (n. 11), 120–2, with Dietz, op. cit. (n. 20), 326f. Note esp. that Herodian 8.5.5, speaks of ἄνδρας ὑπατευκότας, ‘men who had held the consulate’ (though he does not mention the figure 20), while HA, , Gord. 14.4Google Scholar, speaks of ‘viginti viri consulares’.

25 Pflaum, H.-G., Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres I–III (1960–1961)Google Scholar. For a tabulation of the known holders of ‘secretarial’ posts see III, 1019–25.

26 Philostratus, , Vit.Soph. 2.5Google Scholar (Alexander of Seleucia, Cilicia); 2.24 (Antipater of Hierapolis); 2.33 (Aspasius of Ravenna).

27 Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), III, 1022–3.

28 Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), III, 1019.

29 ILS, no. 1344; I.K. Ephesos III, no. 651 (Ti. Claudius Vibianus Tertullus, PIR 2 C 1049).

30 I.K. Ephesos VII.1, no. 3042, l. 11 (Ti. Claudius Balbillus, Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), no. 15).

31 Syll. 3., no. 804 (Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), no. 16).

32 Suda, , s.v. Διονύσιος, ed. Adler, , vol. II, pp. 109–10Google Scholar (Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), no. 46).

33 For a thorough examination of the ambiguity of the vocabulary used in this area, and references to recent bibliography, see J.-P. Coriat, Le prince législateur: la technique législative des Sévères et les méthodes de creation du droit impérial à la fin du Principat (1997), 81f.

34 IGR I, no. 135 = Moretti, IGUR I, no. 59 (Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), no. 181).

35 I.K. Ephesos VI, no. 2026 (PIR 2 A 161).

36 Dio 52.33.5: Loeb trans., with adjustments.

37 Dig. 20.5.12 pr. (Tryphoninus, libro octavo disputationum): ‘Rescriptum est ab imperatore libellos agente Papiniano’ (Pflaum, op. cit. (n. 25), no. 220).

38 This important document, P. Columbia no. 123, was originally published by W. L. Westermann and A. A. Schiller, Apokrimata: Decisions of Septimius Severus on Legal Matters (1954), and revised by Youtie, H. C. and Schiller, A. A., ‘Second thoughts on the Columbia Apokrimata (P. Col. 123)’, Chron. d'Ég. 30 (1955), 327Google Scholar, whence the standard text, SB VI, no. 9526.

39 P. Mich. IX, no. 529, published by Husselman, E. M., Papyri from Karanis (3rd series) (Michigan Papyri, Vol. IX) (1971)Google Scholar, no. 529 (SB XIV, no. 11875). Verso l. 1: [ἐξ ἀπ]οκριμάτῶν Θεῶν Σεούρου κ[αὶ ʾΑντωνίνου]. The text of an apokrima follows in ll. 40–52, followed by [πρ]οετέθη ἐν ʾΑλεξανδρίᾳ (ἔτους) ή Μεχ[είρ…].

40 I note only a few examples, based on the computer search kindly carried out for me by Charles Crowther at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents in Oxford: Sardis VII.1, no. 8, iii, 35; iv, 44; v, 58; x, 105; xi, 25; I.K. Prusa ad Olympum, no. 2; J. M. Reynolds, Aphrodisias and Rome (1982), no. 8, l. 82; 9, l. 15; IG VII, no. 2711, ll. 68, 107; 2712, l. 48.

41 Dig. 1.11.1 pr. (Aurelius Arcadius Charisius, magister libellorum, libro singulari de officio praefecti praetorio). PLRE I, Charisius 2; Honoré, op. cit. (n. 19), 156–62, ‘Secretary no. 19’. See R. Herzog and P. L. Schmidt, Restauration und Erneuerung: Die lateinische Literatur von 284 bis 374 n. Chr. (1989), 69–71.

42 Honoré, op. cit. (n. 19), 101–7, ‘Secretary no. 8’.

43 For the evidence see PIR 2 H 112.

44 Dig.47.2.52.20.

45 CIL VI, no. 266 (remarkably, not in ILS); Riccobono, , FIRA2 IIIGoogle Scholar, no. 165. The section quoted is ll. 19–23.

46 CJ 3.42.5: ‘a non contemnendae auctoritatis iuris consulto’.

47 Lenel, op. cit. (n. 4), I, columns 701–56. The fragments of Modestinus' De excusationibus, written in Greek, occupy columns 707–18.

48 On double praenomina in this period see Salomies, O., Die römischen Vornamen: Studien zur römischen Namengebung (1987), 414–18Google Scholar.

49 Dig. 50.17.210 (Licinius Rufinus, libro singulo regularum): ‘Quae ab initio inutilis fuit institutio, ex postfacto convalescere non potest’.

50 Honoré, op. cit. (n. 19), 107–9. Honoré's Palingenesia of the rescripts in chronological order can be printed out from the disk supplied with the second edition.

51 op. cit. (n. 19), 98–101. I am very grateful to Tony Honoré for suggesting the identification of Licinius Rufinus with ‘Secretary no. 7’, and for discussing the issues with me.

52 CJ 4.65.42.

53 cf.e.g. CJ 8.10.2 (‘edicto divi Vespasiani et senatus consulto’); 6.50.4 (‘divo Hadriano placuit’); 9.23.3 (‘Senatus consulto et edicto divi Claudii’); 4.1.2 (‘secundum constituta divorum parentum meorum’); 9.22.2 (‘divorum parentum meorum rescriptis’).

54 CJ 4.52.2.

55 PIR 2 A 1393.

56 Dig. 40.7.32.

57 See H. Halfmann, Itinera Principum (1986), 223–31.

58 For an invaluable study by a Roman lawyer, exploiting this and other non-legal evidence for lawyers under the Empire see the work by Kunkel, op. cit. (n. 7).

59 Swain, S., Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism and Power in the Greek World, A.D. 50–250 (1996).Google Scholar

60 AE 1972, no. 635. For the date (fourth century) see Gilliam, J. F., ‘A student at Berytus in an inscription from Pamphylia’, ZPE 13 (1974), 147Google Scholar.

61 Expositio totius mundi et gentium, ed. Rougé, J. (Sources Chrétiennes 124, 1966)Google Scholar, ch. 25.

62 CJ 10.50.1: ‘Cum vos adfirmatis liberalibus studiis operam dare, maxime circa professionem iuris, consistendo in civitate Berytorum provinciae Phoenices …’.

63 The parallel Latin and Greek text is to be found twice in G. Goetz, Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum III. Hermeneumata Pseudositheana (1897), 48–56 and 102–8 (deriving from two separate manuscripts). See Honoré, A. M., ‘The «Fragmentum Dositheanum»’, RIDA 12 (1965), 301Google Scholar.

64 The best modern treatments of Gregorius' remarkable autobiographical record are to be found in Crouzel, H. (ed.), Grégoire le Thaumaturge, remerciment à Origène, suivi de la lettre d'Origène à Grégoire (Sources Chrétiennes 148, 1969)Google Scholar, whose text is used below, and above all in the review article on this work by Modrzejewski, J. (now Mélèze-Modrzejewski), ‘Grégoire Thaumaturge et le droit romain’, Rev. Hist. Dr. Fr. 49 (1971), 313Google Scholar. What is said here serves only to bring out in this context the points made by Modrzejewski. For the biographical representation of him by Gregory of Nyssa in the next century see Migne, , PG 46.893–958Google Scholar, with the study by van Dam, R., ‘Hagiography and history: the Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus’, Classical Antiquity 1 (1982), 272CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Note also the very illuminating treatment of Gregory by Fox, R. Lane, Pagans and Christians (1986), 516F.Google Scholar

65 For instance in ‘Culture grecque et culture latine dans le Haute-Empire: la loi et la foi’, in Les martyrs de Lyon (177) (1978), 187.

66 Address 1.6–7. As will be seen, the text in this section is very defective. I have simply followed Crouzel's text, op. cit. (n. 64), adopted by Modrzejewski, op. cit. (n. 64), 317, except that in the second line as printed I have followed the suggestion (Crouzel, 97, n. 4) to add καί after συνδεῖ.

67 Dig.27.1.1 pr. (Modestinus libro primo excusationum): . My translation is tentative, and differs somewhat from that in Watson, Alan (ed.), The Digest of Justinian II (1985), 781Google Scholar.