The parchment codex called ''Littera Florentina'' is the closest surviving version of the official '' Digest'' of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

promulgated by

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

in 530–533. The codex, consisting of 907 leaves, is written in the Byzantine-Ravenna

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

s characteristic of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, but which has recently been recognized in legal and literary texts produced in Alexandria and the Levant as well. E.A. Lowe refers to this script as "b-r uncial". Upon closer examination, the manuscript is believed to have been created between the official issuance in 533 and the issuance of 557, which included Justinian's recent enactments known as the ''

Novellae Constitutiones The ("new constitutions"; ), or ''Justinian's Novels'', are now considered one of the four major units of Roman law initiated by Roman emperor Justinian I in the course of his long reign (AD 527–565). The other three pieces are: the ''Codex Jus ...

'' or "New Constitutions", making it an all-but contemporary and all-but official source. Marginal notes suggest that the codex was in

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

, which was part of the Byzantine territory in Italy governed by the

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...

in the 6th century. It is believed to have then passed to

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in the 12th century. Consequently, during the Middle Ages, the codex was known as the ''Littera Pisana.'' Later, as part of the war booty taken from Pisa to Florence after the war of 1406, the codex became part of Florence's collection. The manuscript became one of Florence's most treasured possessions, and it was only shown to very important individuals. Scholarly access was difficult. It took more than three centuries before a reliable edition of the ''Littera Florentina'' was finally made available. Nowadays, two facsimile editions are available for scholars to study.''Iustiniani Augusti Digestorum seu Pandectarum Codex Florentinus olim Pisanus phototypice expressus'', I-X, (Rome, 1902-1910). ''Justiniani Augusti pandectarum codex Florentinus'', Curaverunt A. Corbino & B. Santalucia, (Firenze: Olschki, 1988). The manuscript's significance lies in the fact that it is an almost unique witness of the original Justinianian Digest. Most medieval manuscripts of the Digest contain substantially different texts. The sudden reappearance of the manuscript in the late eleventh or early twelfth century has been the subject of much debate among legal historians.

Notes

Enrico Spagnesi, ''Le Pandette di Giustiniano: storia e fortuna della 'Littera Florentina': mostra di codici documenti,'' (exhibition catalogue) June-August 1983 (Florence: Olschki) 1983.

Bibliography

Bernardo Moraes, ''Manual de Introdução ao Digesto'', São Paulo, YK Editora, 2017.

External links

Gianfranco Purpura, "La Littera Florentina"
(in Italian)
''The Roman Law Library'' by Professor Yves Lassard and Alexandr Koptev
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160309083347/https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/pdf/RomanLegalTradition.pdf Pdf including illustrations of the Littera Florentina {{Authority control 6th-century books in Latin Law books Byzantine law Prose texts in Latin Roman law 6th-century manuscripts Justinian I

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Bibliography

External links