42 Permission to Jews to Possess Christian Slaves
Honorius (with Theodosius II)
6 November 415
This law, given by Honorius in his name and in that of Theodosius II at Ravenna on 6 November 415, was addressed to the Didasca- lus Annas and to the Heads of the Jews, probably representatives of the Jewish communities.
It has been preserved in Codex Theodosianus (CTh 16:9:3) in a version vitiated by an omission.
The legislator permitted the Jews to possess Christian slaves on condition that these slaves be allowed to keep their religion. The second part of the law referred, possibly, to illegal judicial proceedings and confiscations of property carried out against Jews for possession of Christian slaves. Our law was given in response to a petition by the Jews before the Court at Ravenna, a clear indication that practical measures were adopted in the West as well as in the East on the principle that possession of Christian slaves by Jews was illegal. The acceptance by the government of a request presented by the Jews in this matter represented a clear departure from the traditional policy of the Christian Emperors, in force after the early fourth century. This was probably the reason why this law was not received into Codex Justinianus.Codex Theodosianus, 16:9:3, ed. Mommsen, p. 896
IMPP. HONOR(IUS) ET THEOD(OSIUS) AA. ANNATI DIDASCALO* ET MAIORIBUS IUD A EORUM.
class=21 style='text-indent:18.0pt;line-height:117%'>Absque calumnia* praecipimus ludaeis dominis habere servos Christianos hac dumtaxat condicione permissa, ut propriam religionem eos servare permittant. Ideoque* indices provinciarum fide publicationis inspecta eorum insolentiam noverint reprimendam, qui tempestivis* precibus insimulandos esse duxerint, omnesque subreptiones* fraudu* lenter elicitas vel eliciendas vacuandas esse censemus.* Si quis contra fecerit, velut in sacrilegum ultio proferatur.DAT. VIII ID. NOV. R(A)V(ENNAE) HONOR(IO) X ET THEOD(OSIO) VI AA. CONSS.·
THE TWO EMPERORS AND AUGUSTI HONORIUS AND THEODOSIUS TO THE DIDASCALUS1 ANNAS AND TO THE HEADS OF THE JEWS
We order the Jews who are owners of Christian slaves that they shall have them without chicanery,2 on this condition, however, that they shall permit them to keep their proper religion. Let the judges of the provinces know, therefore,3 that once the legality of the confiscation is examined, they must crush the insolence of those who caused, by timely4 imprecations, that they shall be charged; and we ordain,5 that all thefts6 fraudulously elicited, in the past or in the future, must be invalidated. If someone shall act against this, he shall be punished as for sacrilege.
GIVEN ON THE EIGHTH DAY BEFORE THE IDES OF NOVEMBER AT RAVENNA IN THE CONSULATE OF THE TWO AUGUSTI, HONORIUS FOR THE TENTH TIME AND THEODOSIUS FOR THE SIXTH.7
NOTES
1. Didascalus was a purely honorific title. It is rather rare in Jewish inscriptions, with only few instances known from Rome, Jerusalem, Beth-Shearim, and Venossa. See B. Lifschitz, “Fonctions et titres honorifiques dans les communautSs juives,” Revue biblique, LXVIII (1960), pp. 62-63. Vogler’s suggestion that Annas was “Didascalus of Italy,” a sort of Chief Rabbi of the Jews of Italy, is as yet unsupported by the evidence.
2. Without chicanery: the legislator’s intention was, probably, that Jews who own Christian slaves shall have the right to possess them undisturbed by legal chicanery and persecution. Compare the reading on a coin minted by Nerva: ‘Fisci ludaici calumnia sublata’, “The persecution of the Jewish Fisc has been abolished.” See H.
Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, III, London 1936, p. 15, No. 88. It is possible, again, that the chicanery referred to was adopted by the Jews in order to keep their Christian slaves. This meaning of the term ‘calumnia’—employment of dubious legal means in order to subvert the law—is not unknown in contemporary sources. Compare, for example, Jerome’s commentary to/5. LVIII:6-7, in which he linked ‘calumnia’ with debts arising from unjust usury: ‘Significat autem chartarum fasciculos, in quibus feneratorum calumniae continentur... Non ergo praecipit propheta ne exigat unusquisque quod debitum est... sed ubi iniqua est cautio, ubi opprimitur pauper calumnia’. “It means the bundles of documents which contain the chicaneries of the usurers... The prophet does not decree that one should not exact the debt that is due to him... but only when the obligation is iniquitous, when the poor is unjustly oppressed.” See Commentaria in Esaiam, XVI, LVIII:6-7, ed. M. Adriaen, CCSL, LXXIIIA, 1963, p. 665.3. Therefore: the legislator dealt here with a new subject, whose connection with the preceding sentence is not entirely clear, the result, probably, of an omission in the original version.
4. Timely: Godefroy emended to ‘intempestivis’, “untimely.” Compare CTh 6:22:7, from 383, which referred to the obtaining of appointment-documents: ‘quod adpeti intempe(sti)vius solet’, “it is customary to ask for them untimely,” that is, illegally.
5. Ordain: the verb ‘censere’ means, generally, “to think,” “to estimate,” but it was also used in drafting the Senate’s resolutions, which, although seen in principle as no more than suggestions, had an uncontested authority in regard to the State organs.
This term appears also in resolutions issued by magistrates, such as the consuls. The Imperial Chancellery employed it in the third and the fourth centuries in gerundive constructions, to emphasize the careful thought and the sense of necessity inherent in laws passed by the emperor. See O. Hey, “Aus dem kaiserlichen Kanzleistil,” ALL, XV (1908), pp. 56-57. Compare also the explicit definition given by lavolenus in Dig. 50:16:111 (see above, No. 32, n. 2).6. The use of the word “thefts” was a roundabout rhetorical way to state that Imperial documents—probably rescripts—obtained through dubious means or false representations should be invalidated (see above, No. 20, n. 6).
7. Given... sixth: 6 November 415.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Godefroy, VI: 1, pp. 272-273; Juster, II, pp. 73-74; Seeck, Regesten, p. 330; Browe, p. 121; Seaver, p. 62; Demougeot, “Honorius,” p. 278; Langenfeld, p. 92; Vogler, pp. 42, 53, 70.
43 Jewish Converts and Return to Judaism
More on the topic 42 Permission to Jews to Possess Christian Slaves:
- Linder A.. The Jews in Roman imperial legislation. Wayne State University Press,1987. — 437 p., 1987
- Merchants, Mercenaries and Missionaries, 1220–1300
- 26 Virgin Islands
- TRANSNISTRIA
- 33 The Struggle for the Indian Ocean
- GENERAL INDEX
- Deys, Beys and Bashaws, 1800–1830