4. The Institutes

Composition and Content

The Institutes⁶⁵ are made up of four books; the books are divided into titles, the titles into paragraphs.

Editions and Transmission

The authoritative critical edition of the Institutes was produced by Paul Krüger.⁶⁶ This edition — without any changes — is printed in the editio minor before the Digest.

No manuscripts of the Institutes⁶⁷ from Justinian’s time are known. The oldest fragments we have date from the end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century (ms. Verona Bibl. Cap. XXXVIII (36)). Fragments from the ninth century and excerpts in a collection intended for ecclesiastical use have been found in Italy.⁶⁸ In France the Institutes have so far been attested only fragmentarily — together with the Digest — in Burgundy at the beginning of the ninth century (ms. Berlin Staatsbibl. lat. fol. 269, above, 131). Around the middle of the ninth century a copy of the Institutes was available in Fulda (or Mainz).⁶⁹ From the end of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century complete manuscripts from Italy have survived. An extensive introductory course on the Institutes in Greek (index) which was taught by the antecessor Theophilus (see above, 123—5) at the end of 533 or in 534 has been preserved almost completely and is an important aid to the textual criticism of the Institutes.