Justinian Codifies Roman Law in the Corpus Juris Civilis
Ten legal experts and 39 scribes compress centuries of Roman law into one authoritative code
Quick facts
- Commissioned by
- Justinian I
- Chief compiler
- Tribonian
- Compiled
- 528 to 534 CE
- Parts
- Codex, Digest, Institutes, Novellae
What happened
In February 528 CE, Justinian I assembled ten legal experts and 39 scribes under the quaestor Tribonian to overhaul centuries of accumulated and often contradictory Roman law. Their task meant sorting through older law collections such as the Codex Gregorianus, the Codex Hermogenianus, and the Codex Theodosianus, deciding what still applied and what needed revision. The resulting Corpus Juris Civilis, or Body of Civil Law, took final shape between 529 and 534 CE in four parts: the Codex itself, a collection of imperial edicts; the Digest, a summary of expert legal opinions; the Institutes, a training textbook for lawyers; and the Novellae, new laws issued afterward. The first version of the Codex was completed on April 7, 529 CE, and a revised edition replaced it in 534 CE.
Why it matters
The Corpus Juris Civilis served as the foundation of Byzantine law for more than 900 years and, through its later rediscovery in medieval Europe, shaped the civil law tradition still used across much of the world today.
How we know
The World History Encyclopedia's article on the Corpus Juris Civilis details the commission's composition, timeline, and four-part structure, based on the surviving text of the code itself and Byzantine administrative records.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Corpus Juris Civilis: The Justinian Law Code · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Justinian I · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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