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The internal activities of the emperors of the Isaurian dynasty
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Page 8
In recent times there have been several interesting attempts to compare the Rural Code with the texts of the Byzantine papyri, but on the basis of the mere resemblance in phraseology, very striking at times, no definite conclusions should be made with regard to any borrowing. Such a resemblance, declared Mr. Ashburner, only proves what needs no proof; that lawyers of the same epoch use the same phrases.
The Rural Code is of great interest from the point of view of Slavonic studies. An Old Russian translation of this code forms part of a compilation of the greatest value in contents and historical significance, bearing the title of The Lawbook by Means of Which All Orthodox Princes Have to Regulate All Affairs. The famous Russian canonist, A. S. Pavlov, produced a critical edition of this Russian version of the Rural Code. The latter is found also in the old Serbian juridical books.
In manuscripts of legal works the Sea Law and the Military Law are frequently appended to the Ecloga or other legal documents. Both laws are undated; but on the basis of certain deductions, which do not, however, finally solve the problem, they are referred by some scholars to the period of the Isaurian dynasty.
The Maritime Law (νόμος ναυτικός, leges navales), or, as it is sometimes called in manuscripts, the Rhodian Sea Law, is a statute regulating commercial navigation. Some scholars suppose that this law was extracted from the second chapter of the fourteenth book of the Digest, which contains an almost exact borrowing from Greek law of the so-called Rhodian Law of Jettison, lex Rhodia de jactu, dealing with the division of losses between the owner of the ship and the owners of the cargo in cases where part of the cargo had to be thrown overboard in order to save the vessel. At present the dependence of the Rhodian Law on the Digest, as well as its connection with the Ecloga, which has been emphasized by Zacharia von Lingenthal, is not accepted by scholars.
The form in which this law has come down to us was compiled from materials of very different epochs and natures; most of it must have been derived from local customs. Ashburner said that Part III of the Sea Law was evidently intended to be a part of Book LIII of the Basilics, and inferred that a second edition of the Sea Law was made either by or under the direction of the men who compiled the Basilics. The texts which exist today represent in substance the second edition.
A History of the Byzantine Empire - Table of Contents
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Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/vasilief/internal-activitiesof-isaurian-dynasty.asp?pg=8
