The Theodosian Code in its Christian Conceptual Frame
By Mark Letteney
The organizing principle of the Codex Theodosianus is “general law.” Its compilation began with a constitution of 429, preserved in book one of the Code, that identified eight men and tasked them with a two-step process: first, they were to collect and edit imperial constitutions from the reign of Constantine through their present day that were based on formal edicts, or laws that were generally applicable.
Invidia Tabernariorum: the economic interests of associations in late-antique Rome, a study of the corpus tabernariorum
By John Fabiano
In 440 CE, the emperors Valentinian III and Theodosius II issued an edictum to the people of Rome (Nov. Val. 5). Among other things concerning the care of the city, the edict expressly permitted Greek merchants (pantapolae), who had been previously expelled from the city, to return because of the benefit their work provided to the city of Rome. The reason for their initial expulsion was said to be the general dissent and great envy of the tabernarii.
Legal Lumpiness of the Late Roman Empire
By Ryan Pilipow
Was the application of Roman law the same everywhere throughout the Empire? Borrowing the notion of legal lumpiness from Lauren Benton’s A Search for Sovereignty, I argue that the term can be applied to the irregularity of the application of Roman law throughout the Empire. A fourth-century text, the Expositio Totius Mundi et Gentium, portrays the Roman Empire as a legal network woven into distinct legal communities by the transport of legal goods and professionals.
Servants? or Usurpers?: Evaluation of the Bureaucratization Under Constantius II from A Comparative Perspective
By Chenye Shi
Bureaucratic corruption was ubiquitous in the Later Roman Empire, but there is no consensus on its impact. Historians since MacMullen have argued that corruption led to moral decadence and the fall of the Empire (MacMullen 1988). Cecconi, however, argues that emperors’ tolerance of corruption was essential to maintaining the loyalty of their followers (Cecconi 2005). This paper argues that the allowance of corruption could not substitute for an official reward system.
The Three Accessions of Julian the Apostate: Social Power and the Question of Late Roman Imperial Legitimacy
By JaShong King
When did Julian, the last "pagan" Roman emperor, come to power? Was it in 355 CE, the year he was made a caesar/junior emperor by his cousin the augustus/senior emperor Constantius II? Was it in 360 CE, the year that he was acclaimed as an augustus by his army? Or was it in 361 CE, the year that the civil war between the two ended with Constantius II's sudden death, after which Julian made his triumphal entry into Constantinople to the applause of the senate and the people of the city?