The ''Fragmenta Vaticana'' (Vatican Fragments) are the fragments of an anonymous
Latin work on
Roman law written in the 4th century AD. Their importance to scholars stems from their being untouched by the
Justinianic reforms of the 6th century.
[Simon Corcoran (2012), "''Fragmenta Vaticana''", in ''The Encyclopedia of Ancient History'' (Wiley Online Library). ][Michael H. Hoeflich (1987), "Law Beyond Byzantium: The Evidence of Palimpsests", ''Zeitschrift Der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Germanistische Abteilung'' 104(1): 261–267, at 264–65. ]
The ''Fragmenta'' come from a legal miscellany, probably designed as a handbook for professional lawyers. Its content was arranged thematically. Seven of its headings can be identified, all dealing with
private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the ''jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ( ...
. Among its cited authorities are
Papinian
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 ...
,
Paul and
Ulpian. Several 3rd-century imperial
constitutions are quoted without comment, as well as
rescripts of the emperors
Constantine I
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...
and
Maximian
Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...
.
[
The manuscript transmission of the ''Fragmenta'' is associated with the Western Roman Empire, but that does not guarantee that the text was composed there.][ It was, however, most likely composed in Italy around 320, while the Emperor Licinius was still living. A later editor added material, probably in the 370s.][
The fragments come from an uncial copy of the 5th century, a manuscript now in the Vatican Library (Vat. Lat. 5766).][ The copyist added annotations noting the similarity between his text and the '' Codex Gregorianus'' and '' Codex Hermogenianus''.][ His manuscript was palimpsested at Bobbio Abbey in the 8th century, when a theological work by John Cassian was written over the legal text. A fragment of the Theodosian Code copied in the 7th century is also part of the undertext of Vat. Lat. 5766.][ The existence of the palimpsest was discovered by Angelo Mai in 1821. Today only 33 fragments, representing 28 leaves, survive from the original manuscript, which had at least 228 leaves.][
]
References
External links
Fragmenta Vaticana
Fragmenta Vaticana
in '' Brill's New Pauly'
{{in lang, deMore information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts
Roman law
4th-century Latin books
Palimpsests