Code, Justinian

CODE, JUSTINIAN - A collection of the constitutions of the emperors from Adrian to Justinian; the greater part of those from Adrian to Constantine are mere rescripts; those from Constantine to Justinian are edicts or laws, properly speaking.

The code is divided into twelve books, which are subdivided into titles in which the constitutions are collected under proper heads. They are placed in chronological order, but often disjointed. At the head of each constitution is placed the name of the emperor who is the author, and that of the person to whom it is addressed. The date is at the end. Several of these constitutions which were formerly in the code were lost, it is supposed by the neglect of copyists. Some of them have been restored by modern authors who translated them from Greek versions.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.