Lost (and Found) Roman Law Code

Science Daily reports on a significant legal discovery by Simon Corcoran and Benet Salway of University College London. By putting together a manuscript puzzle, they have found part of Codex Gregorianus, or Gregorian Code, a Roman law document that was originally put together about 300 A.D. and copied by scribes who wrote what are now fragments, in c. A.D. 400.

Also see PhysOrg.com's article, Lost Roman law code discovered in London.

The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (1953) defines the Codex Gregorianus as "the earliest private, systematic collection of imperial constitutions, published not before 291 by an unknown author (Gregorius?). The oldest constitution is by Hadrian. The Codex Gregorianus is not preserved and is known in excerpts only...." Since there are now more than excerpts, this discovery changes the working definition of the codex.

The fragments that were put together appear to be written in what are called Rustic Capitals (actually, only the title), the script in the accompanying Vergil manuscript, which I'm using because I don't have permission to use the Gergorian Code photo. Rustic capitals for vellum or papyrus were distinguished from the Square capitals used in inscriptions.

Photo credit: Vergil Portrait From the 5th C. Vergilius Romanus Manuscript
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

More on Ancient Law-Givers:

• Hammurabi and His Law Code
• Draco and His Draconian Law Code
• Solon the Law-Giver
• Lycurgus, the Spartan Law-Giver
• Moses
• Theodosius and His Law Code
• Justinian - Author of the Codex Justinianus