Julius Paulus ( el, Ἰούλιος Παῦλος; fl. 2nd century and 3rd century AD), often simply referred to as Paul in English, was one of the most influential and distinguished Roman jurists. He was also a praetorian prefect under the Roman Emperor

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

Life

Little is known of the life and family of Paulus; he was a man of Greek descent, who originated from an unknown Phoenician town or from Patavium (modern Padua Italy). The possibility that Paulus could come from Patavium is based on a statue with an inscription found in Patavium dedicated to a Paulus. During the reign of emperors Septimius Severus and

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

, Paulus served as a jurist. He was exiled by the emperor Elagabalus and recalled from exile by his successor, emperor

. Severus and his mother Julia Avita Mamaea in 222, appointed him among the emperor's chief advisers and between 228 and 235, he was the Praetorian prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Paulus was a contemporary of the jurist Ulpian. He partly followed the career path of former Praetorian prefect

Aemilius Papinianus Aemilius Papinianus (; grc, Αἰμίλιος Παπινιανός; 142 CE–212 CE), simply rendered as Papinian () in English, was a celebrated Roman jurist, ''magister libellorum'', attorney general (''advocatus fisci'') and, after the dea ...

. In a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

of the emperor Gordian III dating from 239 and referring to the marriage, where is cited a response of Paul, he is called ''vir prudentissimus Paulus'' ('' C.J.'' 5.4.6).

Paulus's legal works

The Roman jurist

Herennius Modestinus Herennius Modestinus, or simply Modestinus, was a celebrated Roman jurist, a student of Ulpian who flourished about 250 AD. He appears to have been a native of one of the Greek-speaking provinces, probably Dalmatia. In Valentinian's ''Law of Ci ...

describes Paulus, along with Ulpian and Quintus Cervidius Scaevola, as among "the last of the great jurists". Paulus’ work was held in high respect. He had written 319 various legal publications. His surviving works are extremely prolific, displaying a keen analysis of other opinions of jurists and Paulus expressed his legal views. He appears to have written on a great variety on legal subjects and had a thorough knowledge of legal subjects and law. Paulus comments on the jurists

Javolenus Priscus Gaius Octavius Tidius Tossianus Lucius Javolenus Priscus was a Roman senator and jurist who flourished during the Flavian dynasty. Many of his judgments are quoted in the '' Digest''. Priscus served as suffect consul for the '' nundinium'' (pe ...

, Quintus Cervidius Scaevola, Marcus Antistius Labeo,

Salvius Julianus Lucius Octavius Cornelius Publius Salvius Iulianus Aemilianus (c. 110 – c. 170), generally referred to as Salvius Julianus, or Julian the Jurist, or simply Julianus, was a well known and respected jurist, public official, and politician who ser ...

and

. He is cited by the jurists Macer and Herennius Modestinus. His writing style is condensed and sometimes obscure; however, his work is just as good as the other Roman jurists. Paulus’ work has survived from excerpts, although his work needs to be carefully read to be understood. Paulus was one of the five jurists whose opinions were made constitutionally authoritative in 426 by Roman Emperors Theodosius II and

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vyin ...

. Another legacy from Paulus is the inclusion of his writings in the '' Digest'' which was written and put together by

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Emperor Justinian I. One sixth of the

Corpus Juris Civilis The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...

in the ''Digest'' consists of Paulus’ work. He is the most excerpted Roman jurist in the ''Digest'', ahead of Ulpian. The ''Digest'' attributes to Paulus the first articulation of the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present ...

in Roman law: ''Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat''"Proof lies on him who asserts, not on him who denies". Paulus in the ''Digest'' is also referred in two passages, which he gave a contrary opinion to Alexander Severus, but Severus chose Papinianus‘ opinion.

Pseudo-Pauline works

Due to his fame several other works have been attributed to him, in particular the 3rd century compilation ''Pauli sententiae'' ("Paul's Views" or "Sentences"). From Paulus’ surviving works and works attributed to him, the ''Sententiae ad Filium'' have the longest fragments.

Economics

In the '' Digest'', Paulus wrote a passage on money. Much as Aristotle did, Paulus described the nature of money, including how it arises from the inconvenience of barter.Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1954). ''History of Economic Analysis''. Oxford University Press. — Part II (''From the Beginnings to The First Classical Situation (to About 1790)''), chapter 1 (''Graeco-Roman Economics''), section 7 (''The Contribution of the Romans''), page 70, footnote 6.

Notes

References

The Ancient LibraryThe Roman Law Library
by Yves Lassard and Alexandr Koptev.
Google book : ''Latin Literature A History'', Gian Biagio Conte

External links

ancientlibrary.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans 3rd-century writers Ancient Roman jurists Praetorian prefects Paulus Prudentissimus