Digest of Justinian

  • The Digest of Justinian. also known in Latin as the ‘Corpus Juris Civilis’, was published by Justinian I between 529-534 CE.
  • The Digest collated all the previously known Roman Laws into three sections. A fourth section was added for Laws passed after its publication.

The Four Sections of the Digest

  • Section 1:
    • Codex Justinianus (529 CE) compiles all the Acts since Hadrian.
  • Section 2:
    • Digesta (533 CE) which contain Articles relating to Admiralty Law.
  • Section 3:
    • Institutiones Justiniani (Institutes of Justinian I) (533 CE) which contain Articles relating to Admiralty Law
  • Section 4:
    • Novellae Constitutiones (New Constitutions) (534 CE) This fourth section included Acts passed after the publication of the first three volumes.

Section 3 of the Digest refers to Rhodian Sea Law

  1. Ratification of Naval Law by the Roman Emperors.
  2. Division of Profits amongst the Crew and Regulations on Board the Vessel.
  3. Maritime Law. (the main Work)
    • This dealt with Theft or Damage to the Cargo or Vessel.
    • It distinguished between Ownership and Possession of Goods, in order to establish Liability for Insurance purposes, between the Shipper (the Owner) and the Vessel’s Crew (The Possessor).
    • Specifically, D14.2 ‘De Lege Rhodia de iactu’ and D47.9 ‘De Incendio ruina naufragio rate nave expugnata’.
    • Under the Lex Rhodia, the Captain was the ‘Possessor’ and the Shipper was the ‘Owner’.
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