The Codex of Justinian is, together with the Digest, the core of the great Byzantine compilation of Roman law called the Corpus Iuris Civilis. The Codex compiles legal proclamations issued by Roman emperors from the second to the sixth centuries CE. Its influence on subsequent legal development in the medieval and early modern world has been almost incalculable. But the Codex has not, until now, been credibly translated into English. This translation, with a facing Latin and Greek text (from Paul Kruger's ninth edition of the Codex), is based on one made by Justice Fred H. Blume in the 1920s, but left unpublished for almost a century. It is accompanied by introductions explaining the background of the translation, a bibliography and glossary, and notes that help in understanding the text. Anyone with an interest in the Codex, whether an interested novice or a professional historian, will find ample assistance here.
Table of Contents
Volume 1: Justice Fred H. Blume and the translation of Justinian's Codex Timothy Kearley; Revising Justice Blume's translation of Justinian's Codex Bruce W. Frier; The Codex of Justinian: the life of a text through fifteen hundred years Simon Corcoran; The Codex of Justinian: text and translation: the introductory constitutions John Noel Dillon and Bruce W. Frier; First book John Noel Dillon; Second book Bruce W. Frier; Third book Serena Connolly. Volume 2: Fourth book Dennis P. Kehoe; Fifth book Thomas A. J. McGinn; Sixth book Simon Corcoran, Michael Crawford, Benet Salway, Bruce W. Frier, Dennis P. Kehoe and Thomas A. J. McGinn; Seventh book Noel Lenski. Volume 3: Eighth book Bruce W. Frier; Ninth book Thomas A. J. McGinn; Tenth book Dennis P. Kehoe; Eleventh book Dennis P. Kehoe; Twelfth book Charles F. Pazdernik; Glossary of Roman law terms; Constitutions listed in chronological order.
Author Biography
Fred H. Blume was appointed to the Wyoming Supreme Court in 1921 and retired from the bench in 1962 as a greatly honored jurist. He began his translation of the Codex of Justinian in 1919, a labor with which he continued for much of his life. Bruce W. Frier is the John and Teresa D'Arms Distinguished University Professor of Classics and Roman Law at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is the author of numerous books and articles on economic and social history, focusing especially on Roman law. His publications include Landlords and Tenants in Imperial Rome (1980), The Rise of the Roman Jurists (1985), A Casebook on the Roman Law of Delict (1989), A Casebook on Roman Family Law (2003) and The Modern Law of Contracts, now in its third edition (2012) and written with Michigan Law School colleague J. J. White.
