Wilhelm Kroll's Preface to Justinian's Novels: An English Translation

Abstract

The emperor Justinian’s legislation continues to be relevant for historians of the law. As Caroline Humfress has written: For the legal historian, the Age of Justinian is nothing short of pivotal. Medievalists and early modernists interested in the so-called reception of Roman law in later times and places must look back to Justinian and his law books, as classicists and historians interested in Roman republican or early imperial law must frequently look forward to them. Justinian’s law books are, of course, the Digest, the Code, the Institutes, and the Novels (Novellae Constitutiones), which have become known collectively as the Corpus Iuris Civilis (CIC). It soon becomes clear to those interested in the CIC that the standard modern version is based on the works first created in the late 19th century by Theodor Mommsen (Digest — Berlin, 1870), Paul Kruger (Institutes — Berlin 1867, and Code — Berlin 1877), and Rudolf Schoell and Wilhelm Kroll (Novels — Berlin 1895). These were formed into a three volume, stereotype set early in the 20th century. Wolfgang Kunkel has noted: “By comparison with this stereotype edition (which offers the same text in all editions), older general editions of the Corpus Iuris can be used only as auxiliary material.” However, Mommsen, Kruger, Schoell, and Kroll offer more than the best-regarded versions of Justinian’s legislation. Their prefaces to the Digest, Code, and Novels describe, among other things: the many manuscripts they read and used in their recensions; their criteria for accepting some readings and rejecting others; the previous printed editions and their flaws. Moreover, while there is an English translation of Mommsen’s Digest, and although English translations are planned for the Code and the Novels, the first does not include a translation of its preface, and none is planned for the prefaces of the latter two. Neither did Justice Fred H. Blume, whose translations of the Code and the Novels I edited and published on the web, translate the preface of either work. It is true that much of the information contained in Kroll’s preface to the Novels can be pieced together from scattered sources in languages more accessible than Latin. For example, Kruger’s German monograph on the history of the sources and literature of Roman law covers the Novels in some detail; Noailles described the Novels extensively in French; and I have written at length in English of the Novels and their transmission. However, Kroll’s Preface contains unique detail and insights in a relatively compact form, and it has remained inaccessible to all but those who can comfortably read Latin — an ever-decreasing percentage of the population. Therefore, this selective translation of Kroll’s Preface will perform a useful function.