What are the top introductory texts on the Justinian Codex?
<p>I'm a non-lawyer interested in reading an introduction to the Justinian Codex such as would be assigned to orient students in a law school program.</p>
<p>What are the usual suspects here?</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>

<h2>When?</h2>
<p>There are basically several times to look at when you want to look at the text, and then in what language. The <strong>Codex Iustinianus</strong> itself is part of the <strong>Corpus iuris civilis</strong> and contained only laws given by the previous emperors, while other older laws were in the <em>Digesta/Pandecta</em> and the <em>Novellae</em> contained any new imperial laws after 534. The whole CICiv, was given an introductory text right from inception:</p>
<p>When it was compiled, back around 528, one of the books of the CICiv was the <strong>Institutiones Iustiniani</strong>, which was the prescribed legal education basis - the study book for the aspiring lawyers of his time. It contained how to practice law and cases that were to be discussed. On this basis, a <em>glossa marginalis</em> commentary has survived in Turin, which was made from a copy of the <em>Institutiones</em>. The commentary is dated to be contemporary to the CICiv and was made by adding comments around the real text, making researchers believe this was a work by a teacher, so he could answer or explain parts of the text, or reference earlier parts of the book easier.</p>
<p>Around the 7th century, the <em>Pandekta/Digesta</em> were pretty much forgotten in big parts.</p>
<p>In the middle ages, it took about till late 1000s, early 1100s, to re-compile the CICiv, when Irnerius of Bologna did manage to collect a sizeable portion of it by rediscovering the <em>Littera Florentina</em> and added to this collection by referencing earlier <em>glossae</em>. The <em>Florentina</em> alone is more than 900 pages long, and his <strong>littera vulgata/bologniensis</strong> (<a href="http://d-nb.info/780340973" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a german edition's Bibliography</a> <a href="https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/2023810/ms_internetCulturale_php_id_oai_3Awww_internetculturale_sbn_it_2FTeca_3A20_3ANT0000_3ASISMEL_RMS0099481_b" rel="nofollow noreferrer">an Italian edition's bibliography</a>), a new commentary on the re-compiled laws, including large parts of the <em>Digesta</em>. This book became the new introduction and teaching text about the CICiv and leading teaching bok for all lawyers in Europe at that time. This text is, what defined the <em>roman tradition of law</em></p>
<p>In the 19th century, legal scholars that studied a lot of the CICiv and argued along those lines - a style predominantly Existant in Germany - were known as Pandectists. One of the more central books of them was the <em><a href="http://dlib-pr.mpier.mpg.de/m/kleioc/0010/exec/books/%2296050%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lehrbuch der Pandeketen</a></em> by Karl Ludwig Arndts von Arnesberg (Stuttgart 1877). The praxis that developed in these circles greatly did influence the style of how the German <em>Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch</em> BGB was organized and written, and this systematic was exported.</p>
<p>Later, books such as Paul Koschaker: <em>Europa und das römische Recht</em> (4th edition Munich 1966) did recept the whole roman legal body, giving the CiCiv a very thorough look, and how it influenced the modern <em>Code Civil</em> and <em>Germanic tradition of law</em>, while Franz Wieacker: <em>Privatrechtsgeschichte der Neuzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der deutschen Entwicklung</em> (2nd Edition, Göttingen 1967) did look at the Pandectists and how they were influenced by the CICiv.</p>
<p>As more scholarly works I want to point to three that were referenced in the notes of the page when my ancient history Professor mentioned Roman Law being &quot;verklauselt, kompliziert und voller sonderfälle&quot; (~complicated and with many exceptions) in passing.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=R9-kvagJ_7sC" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>A Short History of Roman Law</em> by Olga Tellegen-Couperus (1993)</a> does spare the last 8 pages on the CiCiv.</li>
<li>The more thorough <a href="https://books.google.de/books?id=Nwg9AAAAIAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Herbert Felix Jolowicz; Barry Nicholas: <em>Historical Introduction to the Study of Roman Law</em> (Cambridge 1967)</a> does spare the last chapters on the CICiv.</li>
<li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oR0LAAAAIAAJ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Adolf Berger, Adolf: <em>Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law</em> (The American Journal of Philology 1953)</a> is taken still one of the main shorthands and (sometimes outdated) bibliographies under historians.</li>
</ul>
<p>Large parts of the Latin CICiv (as #12) can be accessed in &quot;<a href="https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the Roman Law Library</a>&quot; by the Grenoble University, together with edition scans.</p>

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