Introductory Note
Jill Harries
This first part addresses questions that are fundamental to the Code as a text.
The three constitutions of March 429, December 435 and February 438, which initiated, continued and confirmed the Code, are tantalisingly vague about the criteria of selection and the methods of compilation employed. What was the relationship of the procedures envisaged in 429 and 435 to each other and to the finished product celebrated in the confirmatory constitution of 438? What did the compilers do between the spring of 429 and the winter of 435? Did they travel the whole Roman Empire researching in the archives of Rome, Ravenna and the provinces, as posited by Seeck, followed by Matthews (Chapter 1), as well as acquiring material from the central archives of Constantinople itself? Or were their operations based almost exclusively in the eastern capital, as Sirks believes (Chapter 2)? And what of the shadowy figures behind the Code project, the quaestors, who were instrumental in its production, and whose predecessors had drafted the originals of much of its contents?The three essays that follow show an historian and two lawyers approaching these issues from divergent standpoints and employing different methodologies. The first two, by Matthews and Sirks, set out the arguments on the question of central versus provincial archives; both have been influenced by extensive pre-publication discussion between the two authors. Readers may judge the merits of their arguments for themselves, but the fact that the controversy remains unresolved is a comment on the complexity of the problems and the necessity for continued research. In Chapter 3, Tony Honoré employs the tools of stylistic analysis already familiar to readers of his Tribonian and his earlier work on the Theodosian Code, to bring to life the quaestors of Theodosius II. While his method is innovative and, for
18 Part I. Compilation
some, controversial, his conclusions are important for the administrative background not only of the Code but of the eastern court in general.
lang=EN-US style='font-size:9.5pt'>The chapters in this part seek to promote and stimulate debate. They are not the last word on the compilation of the Code but together they show the importance of continuing inter-disciplinary dialogue and co-operation which may result in further advances in the future.
1.