Byzantine law
Byzantine law was essentially a continuation of Roman law with increased Orthodox Christian and Hellenistic influence. Most sources define Byzantine law as the Roman legal traditions starting after the reign of Justinian I in the 6th century and ending with the Fall of Constantinople in the 15th century. Although future Byzantine codes and constitutions derived largely from Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, their main objectives were idealistic and ceremonial rather than practical. Following Hellenistic and Near-Eastern political systems, legislations were tools to idealize and display the sacred role and responsibility of the emperor as the holy monarch chosen by God and the incarnation of law "nómos émpsychos", thus having philosophical and religious purposes that idealized perfect Byzantine kingship.
Though during and after the European Renaissance Western legal practices were heavily influenced by Justinian's Code and Roman law during classical times, Byzantine law nevertheless had substantial influence on Western traditions during the Middle Ages and after.
The most important work of Byzantine law was the Ecloga, issued by Leo III, the first major Roman-Byzantine legal code issued in Greek rather than Latin. Soon after the Farmer's Law was established regulating legal standards outside the cities. While the Ecloga was influential throughout the Mediterranean because of the importance of Constantinople as a trading center, the Farmer's Law was a seminal influence on Slavic legal traditions including those of Russia.
Influences and sources
Byzantium inherited most of its political institutions from the late Roman period. Similarly, Roman law constituted the basis for the Byzantine legal system. For many centuries, the two great codifications carried out by Theodosius II and Justinian respectively, were the cornerstones of Byzantine legislation. Of course, over the years these Roman codes were adjusted to the current circumstances and then replaced by new codifications, written in Greek. However, the influence of Roman law persisted, and it is obvious in codifications, such as Basilika, which was based on Corpus Juris Civilis. In the 11th century, Michael Psellos prides himself for being acquainted with the Roman legal legacy.Although Byzantine law structure had largely a Roman constitutional body, the main difference of Byzantine law from its Roman counterpart was both in its application and interpretation which were subject and applied under different Hellenistic and Orthodox principles shared between the Byzantine academic currículum, developing a legal system that encouraged different interpretations of law according to philanthropy and evergetia rather than the application of justice itself, acting for the well-being and benefit of the population rather than for the correct structuring of society.
The various philanthropics values of different classical philosophies intermixed with jurisprudence were already a fixed custom in the different code books and constitutions of the Ancient Hellenistic and Near-eastern kingdoms which practiced jurisprudence like a branch of literature and philosophy rather than a science of its own as pioneered by the Roman approach. Said customs and constitutions instituted greater influence at Christianity's arrival, being included in Justinian's novels which dictated that the law should be interpreted on the basis of philanthropy and piety as the emperors of the Macedonian dynasty had acted against the constant abuses and evasions of the dynatoi by imposing the allelengyon or through the different establishment of humanitarian and monastic institutions across the empire.
By the time the Ecloga and the Basilika were being codified, a further increase in Hellenistic and Christian values were also put into practice, all death penalties were replaced with amputations and severe economic sanctions while making further clarifications and references to the different Orthodox and Hellenistic concepts like that the judge should not only be the law incarnate, but also had to interpret it on the basis of "philanthrōpía" and "evergetikós". Thus, verdicts were applied being directly influenced by the different values, ethics and philosophies of their Orthodox social environment and not by the legal provisions of the code books, resulting in the misapplication and misinterpretation of a theoretically and strictly non-malleable Roman law.
In the absence of capable and efficient legal systems and the eclectic Byzantine approach to jurisprudence, most judges and legal processes across the empire were carried through simplified and vernacular laws such as The Farmers' Law, The Sea Laws, The ''Military Laws or the lesser known Mosaic Law, the different Orthodox and Hellenistic values or orally through the efficient and persuasive use of rhetoric rather than the legal provisions themselves, without Roman law seeing any proper fully systematized or continuing application whatsoever.
In accordance with the Orthodox-Hellenistic concepts of Kingship, the main source of law in Byzantium remained the enactments of the emperor since he himself was the law . The latter initiated some major codifications of the Roman law, but they also issued their own "new laws", the Novels. In the late Roman era the legislative interest of the emperors intensified, and laws were now regulating the main aspects of public, private, economic and social life. For example, Constantine I was the first to regulate divorce and Theodosius I intervened in faith issues, imposing a specific version of the Creed. From Diocletian to Theodosius I, namely during approximately 100 years, more than 2,000 laws were issued. Justinian alone promulgated approximately 600 laws. Gradually, the legislative enthusiasm receded, but still some of the laws of later emperors, such as Leo VI's Novels, are of particular importance. The custom continued to play a limited role as a secondary source of law, but written legislation had a precedence.
Early Byzantine period
There is no definitively established date for when the Byzantine period of Roman history begins. During the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries the Empire was split and united administratively more than once. But it was during this period that Constantinople was first established and the East gained its own identity administratively; thus, it is often considered the early Byzantine period. These developments, nevertheless, were key steps in the formation of Byzantine Law.Codex Theodosianus
In 438, Emperor Theodosius published the Codex Theodosianus, which consisted of 16 books, containing all standing laws from the age of Constantine I until then.Corpus Juris Civilis
Soon after his accession in 527, Justinian appointed a commission to collect and codify existing Roman law. A second commission, headed by the jurist Tribonian, was appointed in 530 to select matter of permanent value from the works of the jurists, to edit it and to arrange it into 50 books. In 533 this commission produced the Digesta.Although Law as practiced in Rome had grown up as a type of case law, this was not the "Roman Law" known to the Medieval, or modern world. Now Roman law claims to be based on abstract principles of justice that were made into actual rules of law by legislative authority of the emperor or the Roman people. These ideas were transmitted to the Middle Ages in the great codification of Roman law carried throughout by the emperor Justinian. The Corpus Iuris Civilis was issued in Latin in three parts: the Institutes, the Digest, and the Code. It was the last major legal document written in Latin.
The world's most widespread legal system, civil law, is based on the Corpus.
Middle Byzantine period
Following Justinian's reign the Empire entered a period of rapid decline partially enabling the Arab conquests which would further weaken the Empire. Knowledge of Latin, which had been in decline since the fall of the West, virtually disappeared, making many of the old legal codices almost inaccessible. These developments contributed to a dramatic weakening of legal standards in the Empire and a substantial drop in the standards of legal scholarship. Legal practice would become much more pragmatic and, as knowledge of Latin in the Empire waned, direct use of Justinian's "Corpus Juris Civilis" would be abandoned in favor of summaries, commentaries, and new compilations written in Greek.Ecloga
The changes in the internal life of the empire that occurred in the years following the publication of Justinian's code called for a review of the legislation, so as to meet the requirements of the times. It was introduced within the framework of the reforms of Leo III the Isaurian, and he also provided the modification of current laws. In 726, he issued the "Ecloga", that had his name as well as the name of his son Constantine."Ecloga", referring to both the civil and criminal law constituted, as was declared in the title, a "rectification towards a more philanthropic version". The membership of the editing committee is not known, but its primary mission was, on the one hand, to modify those dispositions not to be aligned with the current times and, on the other, to prevent judges from taking money for their actions and to help them to solve cases properly.
The dispositions of "Ecloga" were influenced by the Christian spirit, as well as by the common law, that protected and supported the institution of marriage and introduced the equality of all citizens in law. On the other hand, the penalties of amputation and blindness were introduced, reflecting the Byzantine concept in this period of changes. By means of his "Ecloga" Leo also addressed the judges, inviting them "neither the poor to despise nor the ones unjust to let uncontrolled". Besides, in his effort to deter bribery in the execution of their duties he made their payment local and payable by the imperial treasury. "Ecloga" constituted the basic handbook of justice dispensation up to the days of the Macedonian emperors, that also assumed legislative activity, whereas later it influenced the ecclesiastic law of the Russian Orthodox Church. Formerly the researchers attributed the juridical collections "Farmer's Law", "Rhodian Sea Law" and "Military Laws" to Leo III the Isaurian.
The structure of the act is original and it isn't taken from any other source, considering that Leon didn't want to complete layer legal reform. It seems that his goal was just to modify Justinian's legal tradition in the most important segments of legal life, while still adapting it to the needs and actions of the Middle Ages. It needed to be distinguished from its original model. Among the most important deviations from Justinian's Roman law are departure of consensuality when trading goods. So that a contract could exist, it was necessary for the object to either be given to the buyer or that a price be paid to the seller. As long as both sides finish their parts, the contract is not valid even if there is downpayment being given as validation element. Patria potestas is decreasing its power influenced by Hellenistic and canon laws and the rights of women and children are increasing. But Ecloga brings even bigger and more controversial changes in criminal law, which can be seen in the frequent use of physical punishments, not typical for Justinian's law.