Aemilius Papinianus (; ; 142 CE–212 CE), simply rendered as Papinian () in English, was a celebrated Roman

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

, ''magister libellorum'', attorney general (''advocatus fisci'') and, after the death of

Gaius Fulvius Plautianus Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus (c. 150 – 22 January 205) was a member of the Roman ''gens'' Fulvia. As head of the Praetorian Guard, he was very influential in the administration of state affairs, and clashed with Julia Domna, the wife of ...

in 205 CE,

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

. Papinian was one of the most revered jurists in ancient Rome, as third year law students were given the title "''Papinianistae''" (meaning "they that are worthy to study Papinian"). In his time, he had been called "the Asylum of Right and Treasurer of the Laws". Along with

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (biblical figure) (1st century AD) *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida * Gaius Asinius Gal ...

, Paulus,

Modestinus Herennius Modestinus, or simply Modestinus, was a civil servant and 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, or probably Dalmatia. Poss ...

and

Ulpian Ulpian (; ; 223 or 228) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon). He moved to Rome and rose to become considered one of the great legal authorities of his time. He was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to ...

, he was made one of the five jurists whose recorded views were considered decisive by the

Law of Citations The Law of Citations (''Lex citationum'') was a Roman law issued from Ravenna in AD 426 by the emperor Valentinian III, or rather by his regent mother, Galla Placidia Augusta, to the Senate and the people of Rome, and it was included in both Theod ...

of 426 CE; their views would later be considered the only suitable ones to be cited as primary sources for the ''

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...

'' and 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, enacted from 529 to 534 by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It is also sometimes referred ...

'', provided that Papinian's views prevailed whenever those of the four other jurists were not congruent. The 16th century French jurist

Jacques Cujas Jacques Cujas (or Cujacius) (Toulouse, 1522 – Bourges, 4 October 1590) was a French legal expert. He was prominent among the legal humanists or ''mos gallicus'' school, which sought to abandon the work of the medieval Commentators and conc ...

wrote that "there was never such a great lawyer before, nor ever will be after him".

Life

Little is known about Papinian. He was of

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

origin and birth and a native of

Emesa Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link b ...

, for he is said to have been a kinsman of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

' second wife,

Julia Domna Julia Domna (; – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family of priests ...

, who was a member of the

Emesene dynasty The Emesene (or Emesan) dynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids or the Sampsigerami or the House of Sampsigeramus (), were a Roman client dynasty of Syrian priest-kings known to have ruled by 46 BC from Arethusa and later from Emesa, Syria, unt ...

. One source shows him as a follower of the

casuistry Casuistry ( ) is a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending abstract rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules to new instances. This method occurs in applied ethics and jurisprudence. ...

Quintus Cervidius Scaevola Quintus Cervidius Scaevola (fl. ) was a Roman jurist of the equestrian order. Both the ''Historia Augusta'Historia Augusta'', "Marcus Antoninus Philosophus"11.10/ref> and the '' Tabula Banasitana'' attest that Scaevola was a member of Marcus A ...

, another shows him to have been his pupil. A concurring (but dubious) passage in the ''

Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'' claims that he studied law with Severus under Scaevola. Papinian was an intimate friend of Emperor Severus and accompanied him to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

during 207 CE, where he served in "the forum of York" in response to an uprising by

Scottish Highlanders The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlan ...

. He was at some time made an attorney general (''advocatus fisci''), master of petitions (requests), ''magister libellorum'', by Severus. He also served as Treasurer and Captain of the Guard for the Emperor. Before the emperor's death, he commended his two sons

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 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

and

Geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

into the lawyer's charge.

Death

Beheading of the Roman Judge Papinian LACMA M

Sharing in the governorship of the Roman Empire with Geta proved unsatisfactory for Caracalla, who decided at some time to usurp his brother. Papinian, trying to keep peace between the brothers, only proved to encourage the hatred of Caracalla, consequently passing an order to have the lawyer beheaded (Spartianus, ''Caracalla''), and his body dragged through the streets of Rome. His death followed the 212 CE fratricide of Geta, amongst the general slaughter of his friends and those perceived associated with him, according to one source estimated as 20,000 persons. The author of the 1911 ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' article states that the details of Papinian's death "are variously related, and have undergone legendary embellishment." Papinian's death was the subject of a play by

Andreas Gryphius Andreas Gryphius (; 2 October 161616 July 1664) was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroque poets of the Germanos ...

(1659).

Works

Much of his output has been lost, as what we have is small compared to other jurists such as

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

. The principal works of Papinian include: ''Quaestiones'' in 37 books (written before 198 CE); nineteen books of Translated by John Ashton Cross (title-subject sourced originally i
Pollock & Maitland - The History of English Law, Volume 1
''Responsa'' (written sometime between 204 CE and his death); two books, the ''Definitiones'' and ''De adulteriis'', and other works, the shortest of these being Αστυνόμικος (City-Administration) which was a manual on the duties for commissioners of streets and bridges.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Papinian 142 births 212 deaths Ancient Roman jurists Severan dynasty Aemilii 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans 2nd-century writers 3rd-century writers Praetorian prefects People from Homs Syrian jurists