MATRIMONIUM

Roman Laws of Marriage: A Timeline

Ancient Sources for Roman Laws of Marriage

  • Institutiones of Gaius (160 CE)
    • A commentary in four books on the law, written by the jurist Gaius. It was lost until 1816, when the scholar B.G. Niebuhr discovered a copy of the text in the chapter library in Verona, overwritten by works of St. Jerome. Book I (English; Latin) treats the law of persons and their status, with references to women and marriage.
  • Regulae Ulpiani (3rd/4th century CE)
    • Also known as the Epitome or Tituli ex Corpore, this collection of the opinions of the famous jurist Gn. Domitius Annius Ulpianus was made after his death and survives in fragments (English; Latin). From 211-222 he wrote copiously and held public offices under the Emperors Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Severus Alexander. His opinions are frequently cited in Justinian's Digesta.
  • Pauli Sententiae (3rd/4th century CE)
    • This collection in five books of the opinions of the noted prolific jurist Julius Paulus Prudentissimus was made after his death (Latin). A contemporary of Ulpian, he served under the Emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla as advisor, jurist, and prefect of the Praetorian guard. Book II.19 (English) contains his comments on marriage. His work is frequently quoted in Justinian's Digesta.
  • Corpus Iuris Civilis (529, 533 CE)
    • This collection and edition of the varied sources in which current Roman law was preserved was ordered by the Emperor Justinian I. The edition consists of three parts: the Codex, the Digesta and the Institutiones (Latin). The selections from the Codex Justinianus (529 CE) contain legal pronouncements or edicts of the emperors from the time of Hadrian (117 CE) concerning marriage law and punishments; the selections from the Digesta (533 CE) contain legal opinions on marriage law from the 2nd-3rd centuries by the jurists Marcianus, Paulus, Terentius Clemens, Celsus, Modestinus, Gaius, Papinianus, Marcellus, Ulpianus, and Macer; the selections on marriage from the Institutiones (533 CE), a manual of legal principles, are based on the Institutiones of Gaius.
An excellent online site to consult for these corpora is The Roman Law Library by Y. Lassard & A. Koptev.