Theodosian Code

Document Text

Book I.

Title 1: Constitutions and Edicts of the Emperors

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to the Lusitanians.

If any edicts or constitutions without the day and the year of the consulship should hereafter be discovered, they shall lack authority.

Given on the seventh day before the kalends of August at Szombathely (Savaria) in the year of the consulship of Probianus and Julianus.—July 20, 322.

INTERPRETATION : If any laws without the day and the year of the consulship should be produced, they shall not be valid.

2. The same Augustuses to Flavianus, Praetorian Prefect of Illyricum and Italy.

We do not permit any person either to be ignorant of or to pretend ignorance of the constitutions which have been carefully weighed with long deliberation by Our Serenity.

Given on the sixth day before the kalends of June at Vincentia in the year of the consulship of the Most Noble Tatianus and Symmachus.—May 27, 391.

INTERPRETATION: No person shall be permitted to be ignorant of the laws or scornful of the statutes.

3. The same Augustuses to Aurelianus, Prefect of the City.

No constitution produces any calumny for past deeds, but all constitutions establish regulations for the future.

Given on the third day before the kalends of March at Constantinople in the year of the third consulship of Our Lord Theodosius Augustus and the consulship of the Most Noble Abundantius.— February 27, 393.

INTERPRETATION : No laws condemn the deeds which have been done at a previous time, but they establish the regulations which must be observed in the future.

4. The same Augustuses to Victorius, Proconsul of Asia.

A general regulation must be preferred to a special grant of imperial favor.

Given on the eleventh day before the kalends of September at Constantinople in the year of the third consulship of Theodosius Augustus and the consulship of the Most Noble Abundantius.— August 22, 393.

INTERPRETATION: A single person or a single case shall not nullify a law which binds all persons in common.

5. Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian Augustuses to the Senate.

We decree that, after the pattern of the Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes, a collection shall be made of all the constitutions that were issued by the renowned Constantine, by the sainted Emperors after him, and by Us and which rest upon the force of edicts or sacred imperial law of general force.

First, the titles, which are the definite designations of the matters therein shall be so divided that, when the various headings have been expressed, if one constitution should pertain to several titles, the materials shall be assembled wherever each is fitting. Second, if any diversity should cause anything to be stated in two ways, it shall be tested by the order of the readings, and not only shall the year of the consulship be considered and the time of the reign be investigated, but also the arrangement of the work itself shall show that the laws which are later are more valid. Furthermore, the very words themselves of the constitutions, in so far as they pertain to the essential matter, shall be preserved, but those words which were added not from the very necessity of sanctioning the law shall be omitted.

Although it would be simpler and more in accordance with law to omit those constitutions which were invalidated by later constitutions and to set forth only those which must be valid, let us recognize that this code and the previous ones were composed for more diligent men, to whose scholarly efforts it is granted to know those laws also which have been consigned to silence and have passed into desuetude, since they were destined to be valid for the cases of their own time only.

Moreover, from these three codes and from the treatises and responses of the jurists which are attached to each of the titles, through the services of the same men who shall arrange the third code, there shall be produced another code of Ours. This code shall permit no error, no ambiguities; it shall be called by Our name and shall show what must be followed and what must be avoided by all.

For the consummation of so great a work and for the composition of the codes—the first of which shall collect all the diversity of general constitutions, shall omit none outside itself which are now permitted to be cited in court, and shall reject only an empty copiousness of words, the other shall exclude every contradiction of the law and shall undertake the guidance of life—men must be chosen of singular trustworthiness, of the most brilliant genius. When they have presented the first code to Our Wisdom and to the public authority, they shall undertake the other, which must be worked over until it is worthy of publication. Let Your Magnificence acknowledge the men who have been selected; We have selected the Illustrious Antiochus, Ex-Quaestor and Ex-Prefect, the Illustrious Antiochus, Quaestor of the sacred imperial palace, the Respectable Theodorus, Count and Master of the Bureau of Memorials, the Respectable Eudicius and Eusebius, Masters of the Bureaus, the Respectable Johannes, Ex-Count of Our sacred imperial sanctuary, the Respectable Comazon and Eubulus, Ex-Masters of the Bureaus, and Apelles, most eloquent jurist.

We are confident that these men who have been selected by Our Eternity will employ every exceptionally learned man, in order that by their common study a reasonable plan of life may be apprehended and fallacious laws may be excluded.

Furthermore, if in the future it should be Our pleasure to promulgate any law in one part of this very closely united Empire, it shall be valid in the other part on condition that it does not rest upon doubtful trustworthiness or upon a private assertion; but from that part of the Empire in which it will be established, it shall be transmitted with the sacred imperial letters, it shall be received in the bureaus of the other part of the Empire also, and it shall be published with the due formality of edicts. For a law that has been sent must be accepted and must undoubtedly be valid, and the power to emend and to revoke shall be reserved to Our Clemency. Moreover, the laws must be mutually announced, and they must not be admitted otherwise. (Etc.)

Given on the seventh day before the kalends of April at Constantinople in the year of the consulship of Florentius and Dionysius—March 26, 429.

6. The same Augustuses.

All the edictal and general constitutions that have been ordered to be valid or to be posted in definite provinces or districts and that have been issued by the sainted Constantine and the later emperors and by Us shall be distinguished by titles indicating their contents. Furthermore, it shall be apparent which constitutions are the most recent, not only from a computation of the year of the consulships and of the day, but also from their order of arrangement. If any of the constitutions should be divided into several headings, each heading shall be separated from the rest and shall be placed under the proper title, the words which do not pertain to the force of the sanction shall be removed from each constitution, and the law alone shall be left.

1. In order that the law may be constrained by brevity and may be lucid with clarity, We grant to those men who are about to undertake this work the power to remove superfluous words, to add necessary words, to change ambiguities, and to emend incongruities. By these methods, of course, each constitution shall stand forth illuminated.

2. The compilers of this Theodosian Code shall be Antiochus, the Most August and Most Glorious Ex-Prefect and Consular; Eubulus, the Illustrious and Magnificent Count and Our Quaestor; the Illustrious Maximus, adorned with the insignia of the dignity of Quaestor; the Respectables Superantius, Martyrius, Alypius, Sebastianus, Apollodorus, Theodorus, and Eron, Counts of the Imperial Consistory; the Respectables Maximinus, Epigenes, Diodorus, and Procopius, Counts and Masters of the Sacred Imperial Bureaus; the Respectable Erotius, Ex-Vicar, Professor of Law; the Respectable Neoterius, Ex- …

3. If any of these men should be prevented by human fortune or detained by the care of some public affair and should thus be withdrawn from the task that has been enjoined upon him, another shall be substituted in his place in accordance with Our decision, if it should thus seem best. Thus no obstacle shall inhibit the completion of this code, which shall be valid in all cases and in all courts and shall leave no place for any new constitution that is outside itself, except those constitutions which will be promulgated after the publication of this code.

Given on the thirteenth day before the kalends of January at Constantinople in the year of the fifteenth consulship of Our Lord Theodosius Augustus and the fourth consulship of Our Lord Valentinian Augustus.—December 20, 435.…

Book V.

Title 9: Exposed Children

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to Ablavius, Praetorian Prefect.

If any person should take up a boy or a girl child that has been cast out of its home with the knowledge and consent of its father or owner, and if he should rear this child to strength with his own sustenance, he shall have the right to keep the said child under the same status as he wished it to have when he took charge of it, that is, as his child or as a slave, whichever he should prefer. Every disturbance of suits for recovery by those persons who knowingly and voluntarily cast out from home newly born children, whether slaves or free, shall be abolished.

Given on the fifteenth day before the kalends of May at Constantinople in the year of the consulship of Bassus and Ablavius.—April 17, 331.

INTERPRETATION: If any person should take up a newly born child that has been exposed with the knowledge of its father or mother or owner and should rear it by his own effort, the child shall remain firmly in the power of the person by whom it was taken up, whether this person should wish the child whom he nurtured to be of freeborn status or a slave.

2. Emperors Honorius and Theodosius Augustuses to Melitius, Praetorian Prefect.

We leave to owners and patrons no avenue of recovery if good will, the friend of compassion, has taken up children exposed in a measure to death, for no one can call his own a child whom he scorned when it was perishing; provided only that the signature of a bishop as witness should immediately follow; and, for the sake of security, there can be absolutely no delay in obtaining this signature.

Given on the fourteenth day before the kalends of April at Ravenna in the year of the ninth consulship of Honorius Augustus and the fifth consulship of Theodosius Augustus.—March 19, 412.

INTERPRETATION: If any person through compassion should take up a child, either a boy or a girl, exposed with the knowledge of its owner or patron, such child shall remain under the ownership of the person who took it up, provided, however, that the bishop and clerics subscribe to an attestation with regard to such taking up. If a person should be proved to have cast forth a child to death, he cannot later call such child his own.

Title 10: Those Persons Who Purchase Newborn Children and Those Who Take Such Children to Rear

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to His Italians.

According to the statutes of former Emperors, if any person should lawfully acquire a newborn child in any manner and should suppose that he ought to rear such a child, he shall have the right to hold it in the condition of slavery; and if after a series of years any person should bring an action to restore the child to freedom or should defend his right to it as his slave, such claimant shall provide another of the same kind or shall pay a price which can be adequate. 1. For when a person has executed a written instrument and has paid an adequate price, his possession of the slave shall be so valid that he shall have unrestricted power to sell him also for his own debt. Those persons who attempt to contravene this law shall be subject to punishment.

Given on the fifteenth day before the kalends of September at Sofia (Serdica) in the year of the eighth consulship of Constantine Augustus and the fourth consulship of Constantine Caesar.—August 18, 329; 319.

INTERPRETATION: If any person should purchase a newborn child and rear it, he shall have the right to keep and possess it. Certainly, if an owner or father should wish to recover a child that has been so reared, he shall either give to the person who reared it a slave of the same value, or the person who reared the child shall obtain the price which the child that he reared is worth.…

Book VI.

Title 2: Senatorial Rank …

13 (8). Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius Augustuses to Hypatius.

If any person by Our bounty should attain the most exalted rank of Senator or if this high dignity should fall to his lot by the felicity of his birth and he should suppose that he should conceal the tax declaration of any landholding, he shall know that such landed estate will be vindicated to the fisc, whatsoever the property may be that was stealthily withdrawn from the resources that rightfully belong to the State.

1.… if any person should attain the insignia of consular, he shall not have the privilege of assuming this rank or of exercising this administration, unless by his own written statement he should declare that he acknowledges the title of Senator, that he has established his lares and his domicile or fixed residence in a province and town, and that within the various provinces he possesses nothing more than the definite amount specified in his tax declaration. When this information has been obtained by the palatine bureaus, as soon as possible the complete statement shall make readily clear what titles and how important are the ones that have increased the resources of Our immortal treasury, and to what extent.

2. But the tax declaration of two folles shall remain fixed for all Senators alike, even though perchance they may not have any landholding, provided that they have been advanced to the consular rank or to any very distinguished and lofty position of authority. No person shall be admitted to the insignia of authority unless he has duly affirmed his tax declaration, and from such necessity, only those shall be exempted who have been approved by the honor and their terms of service in the imperial palatine service, whence in accordance with their due, rather than by their request, they are called to the fellowship of the Senatorial order.

Given on the fourth day before the ides of January in the year of the second consulship of Merobaudes and the consulship of Saturninus.—January 10, 383.

14. (9). The same Augustuses to Clearchus, Prefect of the City.

We order that exemption from the payment of the glebal tax shall be granted to all those persons from Macedonia …  who have been added to the Most August Order of the City of Constantinople, according to the precedent of the Senators who were chosen from Thrace.

Given …  September at Constantinople in the year of the consulship of Richomer and Clearchus.—August 14–September 13, 384.

15 (10). Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius Augustuses to Aurelianus, Prefect of the City.

In reply to the complaints of those persons who testify that they are not able to bear the burden of the glebal tax, It has been decreed by the Council of the Most August that seven solidi shall be paid annually for his portion by each man who is not able to fulfill the payment of the folles. By this law We confirm this decree of the aforesaid council to the extent that if the property of any man should be meager and if this tax payment is not displeasing to him, he shall have the free choice, in contemplation of the resources of his patrimony, and he shall not withdraw from his fellowship in this Most August Order; but if the tax payment seems burdensome, that is, ruinous, he shall not seek to retain the Senatorial rank.

Given on the day before the kalends of September at Constantinople in the year of the third consulship of Theodosius Augustus and the consulship of the Most Noble Abundantius.—August 31, 393.…

Book IX.

Title 1: Accusations and Inscriptions …

4. The same Augustus [Constantine] to all Provincials.

If there is any person of any position, rank, or dignity whatever who believes that he is able to prove anything truthfully and clearly against any judge, count, or any of My retainers or palatines, in that any of these persons has committed some act which appears to have been done without integrity and justice, let him approach Me and appeal to Me unafraid and secure. I Myself will hear everything; I Myself will conduct an investigation; and if the charge should be proved, I Myself will avenge Myself. Let him speak with safety, and let him speak with a clear conscience. If he should prove the case, as I have said, I Myself will avenge Myself on that person who has deceived Me up to this time with feigned integrity. The person, moreover, who has revealed and proved the offense I will enrich with honors as well as with material rewards. Thus may the Highest Divinity always be propitious to Me and keep Me unharmed, as I hope, with the State most happy and flourishing.

Posted on the fifteenth day before the kalends of October at Nicomedia in the year of the consulship of Paulinus and Julianus.—September 17, 325.…

Title 4: If Any Person Should Utter Maledictions against the Emperor

1. Emperors Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius Augustuses to Rufinus, Praetorian Prefect.

If any person, insensible to decency and ignorant of propriety, should suppose that Our name should be assailed with wicked and impudent maledictions, and if, riotous with drunkenness, he should disparage Our times it is Our will that he should not be subjected to punishment or sustain any harsh or severe treatment, since, if such conduct should proceed from levity, it must be treated with contempt; if from insanity, it is most worthy of pity; if from a desire to injure, it should be pardoned. Wherefore, the case shall be referred to Our knowledge with all its details unchanged, so that We may consider the words on the basis of the character of the man and that We may decide whether the offense should be overlooked or duly prosecuted.

Given on the fifth day before the ides of August at Constantinople in the year of the third consulship of Theodosius Augustus and the consulship of the Most Noble Abundantius.—August 9, 393.

Title 5: On the Julian Law on High Treason

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to Maximus, Prefect of the City.

If any person should bring the charge of high treason against another, since a person convicted in a case of this kind is not protected by the privilege of any high rank from a very severe inquisition, the accuser shall know that he also must be subjected to torture if he should not be able to prove his accusation by other clear evidence. Along with the person who is discovered to be guilty of such rash criminality, that person also must be subjected to torture by whose advice and instigation he appears to have undertaken the accusation, in order that the established penalty may be exacted of all persons who are accomplices of the deed.

1. In the case of slaves also, or of freedmen who attempt to accuse their masters or patrons, respectively, or to report them to the authorities, the assertion of such atrocious audacity shall be repressed immediately at the inception of the guilty act itself, through the sentence of the judge, a hearing shall be denied such slave or freedman, and he shall be affixed to the cross.

Posted on the kalends of January in the year of the consulship of Volusianus and Annianus.—January 1, 314; 320–323.…

Title 14: On the Cornelian Law on Cutthroats

1. Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian Augustuses to Probus, Praetorian Prefect.

If anyone, man or woman, should commit the crime of killing an infant, such an evil deed shall constitute a capital offense.

Posted on the seventh day before the ides of February at Rome in the year of the third consulship of Gratian Augustus and the consulship of the Most Noble Equitius.—February 7, 374.

INTERPRETATION: If anyone, whether man or woman, should kill an infant, he shall be held guilty of homicide.

2. Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius Augustuses to the Provincials.

We grant to all men the unrestricted right of resistance if any soldiers or private citizens should enter their fields as nocturnal ravagers or should beset frequented roads by attacks from ambush. This right is granted to everyone in order that whoever so deserves shall be subjected immediately to punishment, shall receive the death which he threatened, and shall incur that danger which he intended for another. For it is better for a man to fight back at the proper time than for him to be avenged after his death. Therefore, We entrust the right of vengeance to you, and what it is too late to punish by trial We repress by edict. Let no man spare a soldier who should be resisted with a weapon as a brigand.

Given on the kalends of July in the year of the consulship of Tatianus and Symmachus.—July 1, 391.

INTERPRETATION: Whenever anyone as a nocturnal ravager attacks either a traveler or someone’s home for the purpose of committing robbery, We grant to those persons who sustain violence the right to resist even with arms, and if the one who came should be killed for his rash lawlessness, the death of the brigand himself shall be required of no one.

3. Emperors Arcadius and Honorius Augustuses to Eutychianus, Praetorian Prefect.

If any person should enter into a criminal conspiracy with soldiers or civilians, or even with barbarians, or should take or give the oaths of a conspiracy, and should plan for the death of men of Illustrious rank who participate in Our counsels and Our Consistory, or for the death of Senators, who are also part of Our body, or, finally, for the death of anyone who is in Our imperial service, he shall be struck down with the sword as one guilty of high treason, and all his goods shall be assigned to Our fisc. For the laws have willed that the intent to commit crime shall be punished with the same severity as the actual commission of crime.

His sons, indeed, to whom We have granted their lives by especial imperial leniency (for they ought to perish by the same punishment as their father’s, since in them must be feared examples of paternal, that is, hereditary, crime) shall be held as persons extraneous to the inheritance and succession of their mother or grandmother, and also of all their nearest kinsmen. They shall receive nothing by the wills of extraneous persons; they shall be needy and poor perpetually; their father’s infamy shall accompany them always; they shall never be admitted to any honors and to any oaths of service; finally, they shall be in such sordidness of perpetual want that death shall be to them a solace and life a punishment 1. Finally We order to be branded with infamy and to be without hope of pardon, those persons also who should ever attempt to intercede with Us for such men.

2. To their daughters, however many there may be, it is Our will that only the Falcidian portion shall come from the property of their mother, whether she dies testate or intestate, so that they shall grudgingly have the subsistence of a daughter rather than the emoluments and name of heirs completely. For the sentence ought to be lighter in the case of those persons, who, We trust, will be less daring because of the frailty of their sex.

3. Emancipation bestowed by the aforesaid criminal, whether upon sons or daughters, shall not be valid, provided it was granted after the issuance of this law.

4. We decree to be of no force dowries, gifts, and alienations of any property whatsoever which appear to have been executed, fraudulently or legally, after the time when the aforesaid persons first thought about entering into a conspiracy or alliance.

5. Wives of the aforesaid criminals must know that they will leave to the fisc their recovered dowries, and everything that was due to the children according to law shall go to the fisc from the time when the usufruct of the wife ceases, provided that such wives are so situated that what they received from their husbands by title of gift must be reserved for their children. Even the Falcidian portion shall be assigned from these properties to the daughters only, not to the sons.

6. That which We have stipulated concerning the aforesaid children of these criminals We decree with like severity also concerning their satellites, who were their accomplices and assistants, and their children.

7. Certainly if anyone of these criminals, in the beginning of a conspiracy that has been undertaken, should be aroused by a desire for true praise and should himself betray the conspiracy, he shall be given rewards and honor by Us. But if a participant in a conspiracy should reveal the secrets of their plans, even belatedly, but while they are still unknown, he shall be considered worthy only of absolution and pardon.

Given on the day before the nones of September at Ancyra in the year of the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus.—September 4, 397.

Title 15: Parricides

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to Verinus, Vicar of Africa.

If any person should hasten the fate of a parent or a son or any person at all of such degree of kinship that killing him is included under the title of parricide, whether he has accomplished this secretly or openly, he shall not be subjected to the sword or to fire or to any other customary penalty, but he shall be sewed in a leather sack and, confined within its deadly closeness, he shall share the companionship of serpents. As the nature of the region shall determine, he shall be thrown into the neighboring sea or into a river, so that while still alive he may begin to lose the enjoyment of all the elements, that the heavens may be taken away from him while he is living and the earth, when he is dead.

Given on the sixteenth day before the kalends of December in the year of the fifth consulship of Licinius and the consulship of Crispus Caesar.—November 16, 318. Received on the day before the ides of March at Carthage in the year of the fifth consulship of Constantine Augustus and the consulship of Licinius Caesar.—March 14, 319.

INTERPRETATION: If any person should kill his father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, or other near kinsman, all other kinds of tortures shall be rejected, and a sack, called a culleus, shall be made of leather, into which he shall be cast; then serpents shall be enclosed with him, and, if there should not be a neighboring sea, he shall be thrown into whatever stream there may be, so that a person condemned to such a penalty may never obtain burial.…

Book XIV.

Title 9: The Pursuit of Liberal Studies in the Cities of Rome and Constantinople

1. Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian Augustuses to Olybrius, Prefect of the City.

All persons who come to the City because of their desire for learning shall first of all upon arrival present to the master of tax assessment the requisite written documents from their several provincial judges, by whom the right to come to the City must be given. These documents shall contain the name of the municipality from which each student comes, together with his birth certificate and letters of recommendation certifying to his high attainments. In the second place, immediately upon matriculation the students shall indicate the profession for which they intend to study. In the third place, the office of tax assessment shall carefully investigate the life of the students at their lodging places, to see that they actually do bestow their time on the studies which they assert that they are pursuing. These same officials of tax assessment shall warn the students that they shall severally conduct themselves in their assemblies as persons should who consider it their duty to avoid a disgraceful and scandalous reputation and bad associations, all of which We consider as the next worst thing to actual criminality. Nor shall the students attend shows too frequently nor commonly take part in unseasonable carousals. We furthermore grant to you as prefect the authority that, if any student in the City should fail to conduct himself as the dignity of a liberal education demands, he shall be publicly flogged, immediately put on board a boat, expelled from the City and returned home. Of course, permission shall be granted for all students to remain at Rome till their twentieth year, if they industriously apply themselves to the work of their profession, but if after the expiration of this time any student should neglect to return home of his own accord, by the administrative action of the prefect he shall be returned even more disgracefully to his municipality.

In order that these provisions may not perhaps be perfunctorily enforced, Your Exalted Sincerity shall admonish the office of tax assessment that for each month he shall enroll on his register the students who come, whence they come, and those who must be sent back to Africa or to the other provinces according to the periods of time. Only those students shall be excepted who are attached to the burdens of the guilds. Similar registers, moreover, shall be dispatched each year to the bureaus of Our Clemency, in order that We may learn of the merits and education of the various students and may judge whether they may ever be necessary to Us.

Given on the fourth day before the ides of March at Trier in the year of the consulship of Valentinian Augustus and the third consulship of Valens Augustus.—March 12, 370.

2.  The same Augustuses to Clearchus, Prefect of the City.

We command that four Greek and three Latin copyists, skilled in writing, shall be selected for copying the manuscripts of the library and for repairing them on account of their age. To them the appropriate subsistence allowances shall be issued from the caducous supplies of the people, for the copyists themselves also appear to be from the people. For the custody of the aforesaid library, men of ignoble status shall be sought out and immediately assigned to that duty.

Given on the eighth day before the ides of May in the year of the consulship of Modestus and Arintheus.—May 8, 372.

3. Emperor Theodosius Augustus and Valentinian Caesar.

We order to be removed from the practice of vulgar ostentation all persons who usurp for themselves the name of teachers and who in their public professorships and in their private rooms are accustomed to conduct with them their students whom they have collected from all quarters. Thus if any of these teachers, after the issuance of the words of this divine imperial sanction, should perhaps again attempt to do that which We prohibit and condemn, he shall not only undergo the brand of infamy that he deserves, but he shall know that he will also be expelled from the very city where he conducts himself thus illicitly. But by no threat of this kind do We prohibit those teachers who are accustomed to give such instruction privately within very many homes, if they prefer to keep themselves free for such students only whom they teach within the walls of private homes. If, moreover, there should be any teacher from the number of those who appear to be established within the auditorium of the Capitol, he shall know that in every way he is interdicted from teaching such studies in private homes. He shall also know that if he should be apprehended doing anything contrary to the imperial celestial statutes, he shall obtain no benefit from those privileges which are deservedly conferred upon those persons who have been commanded to teach only in the Capitol.

1. Therefore, Our auditorium shall specifically have three orators and ten grammarians, first of all among those teachers who are commended by their learning in Roman oratory. Among those professors also who are recognized as being proficient in facility of expression in Greek, there shall be five sophists in number, and likewise ten grammarians. Since it is Our desire that Our glorious youth should be instructed not only in such arts, We associate authorities of more profound knowledge and learning with the aforesaid professors. Therefore, it is Our will that to the other professors, one teacher shall be associated who shall investigate the hidden secrets of philosophy, two teachers also who shall expound the formulas of the law and statutes. Thus Your Sublimity shall provide that to each of these teachers a designated place shall be specifically assigned, in order that the students and teachers may not drown out each other, and the mingled confusion of tongues and words may not divert the ears or the minds of any from the study of letters.

Given on the third day before the kalends of March at Constantinople in the year of the eleventh consulship of Theodosius Augustus and the consulship of Valentinian.—February 27, 425.…

Book XV.

Title 12: Gladiators

1. Emperor Constantine Augustus to Maximus, Praetorian Prefect.

Bloody spectacles displease Us amid public peace and domestic tranquillity. Wherefore, since We wholly forbid the existence of gladiators, You shall cause those persons who, perchance, on account of some crime, customarily sustained that condition and sentence, to serve rather in the mines, so that they will assume the penalty for their crimes without shedding their blood.

Posted at Beirut on the kalends of October in the year of the consulship of Paulinus and Julianus.—October 1, 325.

2. Emperor Constantius Augustus and Julian Caesar to Orfitus, Prefect of the City.

All exhibitors of gladiatorial shows in the City of Rome shall know that it is forbidden to solicit soldiers or those endowed with any palatine rank to hire themselves out as gladiators. If any person should attempt to violate this regulation, he shall be subject to the threat of a fine of six pounds of gold. If any such soldiers should voluntarily approach a producer of gladiatorial games, the office staff of Your Sublimity shall send them, loaded with iron chains, to the masters of the horse and foot, or to those who govern the palatine offices, so that, pursuant to the provision of this law, the dignity of the palace may be vindicated from the detestable gladiatorial name.

Given on the sixteenth day before the kalends of November in the year of the ninth consulship of Constantius Augustus and the second consulship of Julian Caesar.—October 17, 357.

3. Emperors Arcadius and Honorius Augustuses to the People.

(After other matters.) If any persons from a gladiatorial school should appear to have passed over to the service of Senators, We decree that such persons shall be sent to the remotest solitudes.

Given and posted at Rome in the year of the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus.—April 7(?), 397; June 6, 399. …

Book XVI

Title 1: The Catholic Faith

I. Emperors Valentinian and Valens Augustuses to Symmachus, Prefect of the City.

If any judge or apparitor should appoint men of the Christian religion as custodians of temples, he shall know that neither his life nor his fortunes will be spared.

Given on the fifteenth day before the kalends of December at Milan in the year of the consulship of Valentinian and Valens Augustuses.—November 17, 365, 364.

2. Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius Augustuses: An Edict to the People of the City of Constantinople.

It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans, as the religion which he introduced makes clear even unto this day. It is evident that this is the religion that is followed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity; that is, according to the apostolic discipline and the evangelic doctrine, we shall believe in the single Deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, under the concept of equal majesty and of the Holy Trinity.

We command that those persons who follow this rule shall embrace the name of Catholic Christians. The rest, however, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative, which We shall assume in accordance with the divine judgment.

Given on the third day before the kalends of March at Thessalonica in the year of the fifth consulship of Gratian Augustus and the first consulship of Theodosius Augustus.—February 28, 380.

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Reprinted from Pharr, Clyde, The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sermondian Constitutions. Copyright © 1952 in the name of the author, 1980 renewed in the name of Roy Pharr, executor. All material from p. 3, 11–35 copyright © 1944 by Theresa Sherrer Davidson. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

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Source: From The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sermondian Constitutions by Clyde Pharr. Copyright © 1944 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission.