Samuel P. Scott A.m.

Justinian - New Constitutions - Vol. 1: (Novellae Constitutiones) (Volume 1) Samuel P. Scott A.m.

The landmark re-codification of ancient Roman law which Christianized Europe Synopsis: By Late Antiquity Roman Law was seriously deteriorated and in a state of confusion. Centuries of non-systematic legal enactments by various Emperors, poorly kept records and numerous conflicting opinions presented by legal experts, especially during the even more tumultuous third to fourth centuries A. D., created a tangled web of laws and profound legal and political abuse. Justinian, notorious for his moral failings and his marriage to the prostitute Theodora (considered by many to be one of the most debauched empresses in the history of the Roman Empire), commissioned teams of legal scholars to completely examine and re-codify all the ancient laws of the Empire (over a thousand years of enactments and thousands of pages). They managed to eliminate the contradiction and confusion inherent in the law and to rewrite a more systematic code of laws which accounted for, but replaced all that had gone before. The Commissions accomplished this task in what can best be described as record time, producing four profound works of law - The Code, The Digest, The Institutes and The New Constitutions - collectively known as the Corpus Juris Civilis. By establishing these new legal texts as the final authority, and essentially eradicating and replacing all that had gone before, Justinian managed to restabilize the ancient western world, saving the Roman Empire in the process. These sets of laws helped prepare the way for the Christianizing of the ancient world and the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite being law books, these volumes make excellent reading and shed light on how social issues of the day, many of which still exist, were addressed. Enactments cover issues as diverse as medical care of the poor and elderly, protections for the rights of women and children, the roles of church and state, welfare, the state's responsibility in times of war and natural disaster, the feeding of the poor, public schooling and many other issues. Samuel P. Scott's vigorous and highly readable translation of Justinian's New Constitutions, the final part of the most comprehensive re-codification of law in the history of the world, is now available for the first time in an affordable two volume paperback edition. These would make wonderful books for anyone interested in History, Law, Social Work, Public Service, Human Rights, the Roman Empire, Early Christianity, the Dark Ages, Philosophy, Theology, or the Early Church.... Volume One contains the first Six Collections of Justinian's enactments, as well as a lengthy excerpt from S. P. Scott's original prologue to his monumental 17 volume work of 1932, The Civil Law.