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CIVIL LAW 621 opinions, given either to private persons or offi- cers, rescripta. There were four classes of constitutions : orations (addressed to the sen- ate and requiring it to issue zenatw cowulta), edicts, mandates, rescripts, and decrees. The decrees and rescripts were generally made known through the acta diurna or daily pa- pers, and may be compared to the arrets of the kings of France. 4. The praetors and aediles of Rome, as well as the proconsuls and pro- praetors in the provinces, continued during this period to publish edicts on entering upon their offices. As many of them, however, probably took the liberty to deviate from them during their term of office, the tribune Cornelius (A. TT. C. 687) procured the passage of a law pre- scribing that they should administer the law in .accordance with their edicts. However, the importance of their edicts as a source of private law was much reduced. The praeto- rian edict formed for a long time a chief source of the private law, and became therefore a subject of literary disquisition and instruction. The want of uniformity in its plan, and the dis- regard of coherence shown in its gradual al- teration and enlargement, rendered it necessary to reduce it to something like a system. The first who undertook this labor was Ofilius, a friend of Julius Caesar; but this being the work of a private jurist, it was without legal authority. A revision of such a work was needed, but was not effected until the time of Hadrian (A. D. 117-138), when it was under- taken by Salvius Julianus, a distinguished jurist, who was also praetor, by order of that emperor. He was authorized to omit, to amend, and to add. The edict of the eadiles, which related chiefly to the police, was retained separately in an appendix. Hadrian caused this new revision to be confirmed by a special decree of the sen- ate (131). From that time the edict remained substantially the same, and became a princi- pal subject of legal instruction. Julian him- self wrote commentaries upon it; and after him many others, among whom Ulpian de- serves special mention. Only fragments of the edict are left. 5. From the earliest times it was a custom among the Romans, in doubtful cases, for private individuals as well as the magistrates themselves to apply to the jurists and request their legal opinions, called responsa. Before the time of Augustus, the responses thus given were merely lawyers' opinions, and had no legal authority. Augustus first allow- ed several distinguished jurists, by special grant, to respond in his name ; and naturally the opinions given by them acquired a greater authority. Hadrian afterward ordered that the unanimous opinion of the jurists especially authorized to respond should have the force of law, and should be followed by the judges ; but that in case their opinions disagreed, the judge should follow that opinion which he him- self considered the most just. 6. In the scien- tific treatment and illustration of the law, this sriod surpassed all others both for the variety and profoundness of its works. It is distin- guished by the most eminent jurists that ever existed among the Romans, and they advanced the science of the law to a high degree of per- fection, and are therefore usually called the clas- sical j urists. Their writings contained excellent explanations and exhibitions of the law sources, and soon obtained a decisive authority in the courts, because the assistance of learned inter- preters of the law was indispensable in apply- ing the twelve tables and the edict to practice. The Pandects of Justinian were compiled from the writings of these jurists. The most dis- tinguished jurists before Augustus were Q. Mu- cius Scaevola, Aquilius Gallus, M. Tullius Ci- cero, Sextus Papirius, Ofilius, Trebatius Testa, and others. After the time of Augustus the Roman jurists specially authorized to respond on the law seem to have divided themselves into certain schools or legal sects. These schools, however, appear to have been only sepa- rate academies or offices (stationes) for giving legal opinions. The professors and chiefs of these differed in their elementary views, and were followed therein by their scholars for several generations. Many controversies arose therefrom, which were subsequently settled by imperial constitutions or by judicial decisions. The most eminent founders and adherents of these sects were Antistius Labeo, Proculus, Ju- ventius Celsus, and Salvius Julianus. The most distinguished jurists after the time of Hadrian were Papirius Justus, Terentius Clemens, Ul- pius Marcellus, and most particularly Gaius, ^Emilius Papinianus, Dornitius Ulpianus, Julius Paulus, and Modestinus. Jurists of less celeb- rity, although their writings have been com- piled from, are Tertulianus, Licinius Rufinus, Rutilius Maximus, and others. The Institutes of Gaius are his most important work to us, because they formed the foundation of the In- stitutes of Justinian. They were discovered in 1816 by Niebuhr in a codex rescriptus at Verona. Most of the writings of Ulpian have been quoted in the Pandects; other parts are to be found in the Fragmenta Vaticana. Fourth Period, A. U. 0. 1000-1300. After the death of Alexander Severus (235) the Roman empire hastened rapidly to its complete fall. The confusion reached its greatest height when under Valerian (253-260) the Alemanni, the Franks, the Goths, and the Heruli invaded the Roman provinces. Constantino (306-337) founded on the shores of the Bosporus a new seat of empire, where he then took up his abode. From this time the Christian religion became predominant, and the Latin language was gradually displaced by the Greek. Such important changes could not take place with- out great influence upon the Roman laws. The empire was divided anew under the sons of Constantine, and again (395) under the sons of Theodosius, of whom Arcadius obtained the East and Honorius the West. In the com- mencement of the 5th century Alaric, king of the Visigoths, made an attack upon Italy, and