Byzantine sources of law mapped

Daphne Penna and Roos Meijering have written the first English-language book that offers a wide range of Byzantine legal sources. The volume offers a clear yet detailed primer to Byzantine law, its sources, and its significance. Anyone interested in Byzantine law can use this book to find out what the sources actually look like, what their basic background is and how they relate to each other.

What is special about the book is that it connects to the long tradition of education and research into Byzantine law in Groningen. The Groningen school of Byzantine Law was founded by H.J. Scheltema (1906-1981). In 1945, after his appointment as Professor of Roman Law, he commenced the critical edition of by far the most extensive work on Greek-Roman Law: the Basilica cum scholiis. The text of the Basilica, divided into sixty books, is the Greek version of the mainly Latin Corpus Iuris Civilis, issued in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian: the Basilica text and scholia together, are our richest source of knowledge of Byzantine law. This knowledge is passed on to our students through, among other things, the Seminar of Byzantine Law offered by the Legal History section at our University.

'A Sourcebook on Byzantine Law' is based on the lessons taught by dr. Penna and dr. Meijering over the years. For all sources English translations are provided next to the original Greek (and Latin) text. In some cases, tables or other features are included that help further elucidate the source and illustrate its nature.

This article was published by the Faculty of Law.