What are the Institutes of Justinian?

The Institutes of Justinian are a sixth-century AD reference work and handbook that served as a component of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the massive codification of Roman law ordered by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. This legal handbook was largely based upon earlier writings by the second-century Roman jurist Gaius. Alongside the Digest, the Codex Justinianus, and the Novellae Constitutiones, the Institutes helped unify and preserve Roman legal principles for posterity.

What we know

• The Institutes of Justinian form a component of the Corpus Juris Civilis, which is a sixth-century codification of Roman law ordered by Byzantine emperor Justinian I. [1, 2]
• The text functions as a reference work and handbook for studying law. [1, 2]
• The work is largely based upon the Institutes of Gaius, a Roman jurist from the second century AD. [2]
• The Corpus Juris Civilis also includes the Digest, the Codex Justinianus, and the Novellae Constitutiones. [2, 5]

Where to go next

• whoWho was Justinian I?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the Corpus Juris Civilis?
• how we knowWho was the jurist Gaius?
• a case in pointWhat is Specificatio in Roman law?
• what followedHow did Justinian's legal reforms impact modern civil law?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a sixth-century emperor's legal project connect to modern state legal systems?Justinian's uniform rewriting of Roman law still serves as the direct basis of civil law in many modern states today.

Sources

• [1]Institutes of Justinian (Wikidata Q1055599) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Institutes (Justinian) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Specificatio (Roman law) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Justinian I · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Code of Justinian · CC BY-SA 4.0