Titius Aristo (sometimes, incorrectly, Titus Aristo) was a distinguished jurist of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, who lived around the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, under the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, and was a friend of

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...

. He is spoken of by Pliny in terms of the highest praise, as not only an excellent man and profound scholar, but a lawyer thoroughly acquainted with private and public law, and perfectly skilled in the practice of his profession.

Works

Pliny does not say anything about Aristo's merits as an author, and though his works are occasionally mentioned in the compendium of juristic writings known as the '' Digest'', there is no direct extract from any of them in that compilation. In philosophy, this model of a virtuous lawyer is described by Pliny as a genuine disciple of the

Stoa Poikile The Stoa Poikile (, ) or Painted Portico was a Doric stoa (a covered walkway or portico) erected around 460 BC on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was one of the most famous sites in ancient Athens, owing its fame to the paint ...

. He has been usually supposed to belong to the legal sect of the Proculeian school, which clashed with the rival sect of the

Sabinian school In ancient Rome, the Sabinian school was one of the two important schools of law during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The Sabinians took their name from Masurius Sabinus but later were known as ''Cassians'' after Sabinus' student, Cassius Long ...

, though there is at least one situation described in which his legal opinions sided with the Sabinian Javolenus instead of the Proculeian Pegasus. Aristo wrote notes on the ''Libri Posteriorum'' of

Marcus Antistius Labeo Marcus Antistius Labeo (died 10 or 11 AD) was a Roman jurist. Marcus Antistius Labeo was the son of Pacuvius Labeo, a jurist who caused himself to be slain after the defeat of his party at Philippi. Since his name was different from his father's ...

, on "Cassius" (unclear which one, but likely

Gaius Cassius Longinus Gaius Cassius Longinus (; – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the conspir ...

or a descendant), whose pupil he had been, and on

Masurius Sabinus Masurius Sabinus, also Massurius, was a Roman jurist who lived in the time of Tiberius (reigned 14–37 AD). Unlike most jurists of the time, he was not of senatorial rank and was admitted to the equestrian order only rather late in life, by virt ...

. "Aristo in decretis Frontianis", or "Frontinianis", is once cited in the ''Digest''; but what those ''decreta'' ("decisions") were has never been satisfactorily explained. He corresponded with his contemporary jurists,

Publius Juventius Celsus Publius Juventius Celsus Titus Aufidius Hoenius Severianus (c. 67 – c. 130) — the son of a little-known jurist of the same name, hence also Celsus filius — was, together with Julian, the most influential ancient Roman jurist of the High Clas ...

and Lucius Neratius Priscus; and it appears probable that many of the ''responsa'' and ''epistolae'' of the Roman jurisconsults were not opinions upon cases occurring in actual practice, but answers to the hypothetical questions of pupils and legal friends.

Other Possible Works

Other works have been attributed to him without strong consensus among modern scholars. Some, for example, have inferred from a passage in

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

, that he wrote ''de furtis''; and, from passages in the ''Digest'', that he published books titled ''Digesta'' and ''Responsa''.'' Digest'' 24. tit. 3. s. 44. pr.; 8. tit. 5. s. 8.5; 23. tit. 2. s. 40

References

{{Authority control Ancient Roman jurists 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century writers