PREFACE
affairs which, in some manuscripts, either immediately precedes or immediately follows the Sea-law.
The Commentary is confined, for the most part, to the discussion of various readings and to matters of grammar, syntax, and the usage of words. The papyri throw great light upon the vocabulary of the Sea-law: I hope it will be found that the Sea-law occasionally throws light upon the papyri.
The substance of the Sea-law, that is to say, the legal effect of its provisions, and their relation, on the one hand, to Roman law and, on the other, to the Mediterranean maritime law of the middle ages, is dealt with at large in the Introduction. The reader who wishes to find my opinion as to the meaning of any chapter will do well to consult the first Index, where references are gi ven to every place in the Introduction in which a chapter of the Sea-law is considered.
Mr. H. J. Roby has answered my questions on Roman law, and Mr. T. W. Allen my questions on palaeography. If I had trespasses oftener on their kindness, my work would have been less imperfect. The Reverend J. Wood Brown has read over the proofs of the introduction. To all three friends are due my sincere thanks.
My thanks are also due to the heads of various
