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A Companion to Byzantine Law
From the Foundation of Constantinople (330) until the End of the Macedonian Dynasty (1056)
Series: - Brill's Companions to the Byzantine World, Volume: 15
The so-called Byzantine Empire, which existed for more than a thousand years with Constantinople as its capital, demonstrates the birth of a new world with the wedding of Western and Eastern traditions. This study of Byzantine legal texts, mainly from the 6th to the 11th centuries, illustrates this clearly, following the evolution of Roman law into Byzantine law. By outlining and analysing the influence of various historical, social, and religious factors on this progression, the present handbook not only presents a condensed picture of the evolution of law in the area beyond the Adriatic Sea, but also indirectly sheds light on Byzantine society more broadly.
Contributors are: Kalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara, Wolfram Brandes, Zachary Chitwood, Giuseppe Falcone, Andreas Gkoutzioukostas, Fausto Goria, Vasileios-Alexandros Kollias, Alexander Liarmacopulus, Valerio Massimo Minale, Eleftheria Papagianni, Kalliopi Papakonstantinou, Daphne Penna, Peter Sarris, Dieter Simon, Marios Th. Tantalos, Spyros Troianosâ , and Thomas van Bochove.
Contributors are: Kalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara, Wolfram Brandes, Zachary Chitwood, Giuseppe Falcone, Andreas Gkoutzioukostas, Fausto Goria, Vasileios-Alexandros Kollias, Alexander Liarmacopulus, Valerio Massimo Minale, Eleftheria Papagianni, Kalliopi Papakonstantinou, Daphne Penna, Peter Sarris, Dieter Simon, Marios Th. Tantalos, Spyros Troianosâ , and Thomas van Bochove.
Eleftheria Papagianni is Professor Emerita of Legal History at the National and Kapodistrian University. She participated in an international research project at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History to republish the Byzantine legal sources of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and served as the project's director from 2008 to 2011. She is the author of numerous books and articles, mainly on Byzantine civil law.
Daphne Penna is Assistant Professor of Legal History at the University of Groningen and Associate Professor of Roman Law at KU Leuven. She is the author of The Byzantine Imperial Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th-12th Centuries: A Comparative Legal Study (The Hague, 2012) and co-author of A Sourcebook on Byzantine Law: Illustrating Byzantine Law through the Sources (Leiden, 2022). She has published extensively on Roman and Byzantine law, and especially on their influence on the European legal tradition.
Daphne Penna is Assistant Professor of Legal History at the University of Groningen and Associate Professor of Roman Law at KU Leuven. She is the author of The Byzantine Imperial Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th-12th Centuries: A Comparative Legal Study (The Hague, 2012) and co-author of A Sourcebook on Byzantine Law: Illustrating Byzantine Law through the Sources (Leiden, 2022). She has published extensively on Roman and Byzantine law, and especially on their influence on the European legal tradition.
"...This book is, therefore, a very welcome and timely contribution that will be useful to anyone who wishes to catch up with the state of research in the field. The structure and writing style make it accessible to established scholars, postgraduate students, and advanced undergraduates [...]
...if one approaches this volume mainly as a companion to research in Byzantine civil law sources, it is an outstanding accomplishment. The editors and authors are to be commended on the successful completion of what must have been an arduous task. The product is a highly informative volume that finally makes research in Byzantine legal history accessible in English to a non-specialist audience for the first time. It will doubtless become the standard reference work on the subject for many years to come." - James Morton, Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in: Journal of Medieval History 52/1 (2026), pp. 147-148 [DOI: 10.14296/RiH/2014/1631]
"...One great strength of the volume is in its ability to speak clearly to the novice while remaining relevant even to the specialist. Contributors are consistently successful in presenting their material in ways that do not assume any prior knowledge, making the entire volume suitable for the classroom or other beginners. [...] Paired with Daphne Penna and Roos Meijeringâs A Sourcebook on Byzantine Law: Illustrating Byzantine Law through the Sources (Brill, 2022), students and scholars alike have a veritable introductory course to Byzantine law at their fingertips. The field is certainly more accessible than ever, both to specialists and non-specialists alike. Spyros Troianos, to whom the volume is dedicated, passed away in January 2024. The present volume is a fitting tribute to Troianosâs monumental, lifelong work of demystifying Byzantine law and making it more available to others." - Nathan Leidholm, Bilkent University, in: The Medieval Review (2026), 26.03.15, published online: Full review
...if one approaches this volume mainly as a companion to research in Byzantine civil law sources, it is an outstanding accomplishment. The editors and authors are to be commended on the successful completion of what must have been an arduous task. The product is a highly informative volume that finally makes research in Byzantine legal history accessible in English to a non-specialist audience for the first time. It will doubtless become the standard reference work on the subject for many years to come." - James Morton, Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in: Journal of Medieval History 52/1 (2026), pp. 147-148 [DOI: 10.14296/RiH/2014/1631]
"...One great strength of the volume is in its ability to speak clearly to the novice while remaining relevant even to the specialist. Contributors are consistently successful in presenting their material in ways that do not assume any prior knowledge, making the entire volume suitable for the classroom or other beginners. [...] Paired with Daphne Penna and Roos Meijeringâs A Sourcebook on Byzantine Law: Illustrating Byzantine Law through the Sources (Brill, 2022), students and scholars alike have a veritable introductory course to Byzantine law at their fingertips. The field is certainly more accessible than ever, both to specialists and non-specialists alike. Spyros Troianos, to whom the volume is dedicated, passed away in January 2024. The present volume is a fitting tribute to Troianosâs monumental, lifelong work of demystifying Byzantine law and making it more available to others." - Nathan Leidholm, Bilkent University, in: The Medieval Review (2026), 26.03.15, published online: Full review
Contents
Preface
âEleftheria Papagianni and Daphne Penna
AbbreviationsV
Notes on ContributorsX
1 The Birth of Byzantine Law
âZachary Chitwood
2 The Creation of a Parallel Legal Order: Canon Law
âSpyros Troianos
3 The History of Research on Byzantine Law
âMarios Th. Tantalos
4 Byzantine Law from Constantine the Great to the Death of Justinian: an Overview
âVasileios-Alexandros Kollias
5 Codification of the leges: Codex Theodosianus and Codex Justinianus
âKalliopi Papakonstantinou
6 Codification of the ius: the Digest
âGiuseppe Falcone
7 The Institutes of Justinian
âKalliopi Papakonstantinou
8 The Novels of Justinian
âPeter Sarris
9 Law Teaching at the Time of Justinian
âDaphne Penna
10 From Justinianâs Death up to Basil I: an Overview
âValerio Massimo Minale
11 The Canons of the Synod of Trullo: a Code of Canon Law and Its Relation to State Legislation
âWolfram Brandes
12 The âIsaurianâ Ecloga
âFausto Goria
13 From the Appendix Eclogae to the Eclogadion: Inclining Back to Justinianic Law
âFausto Goria
Law at the Time of the Macedonian Dynasty
14 Law at the Time of the Macedonian Dynasty: an Overview
âKalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara
15 The Procheiros Nomos and the Eisagoge
âThomas E. van Bochove
16 The Novels of Leo VI the Wise
âKalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara
17 The Great Codification. The Basilica cum scholiis and Their Immediate Precursor(s)
âThomas E. van Bochove
18 The Court of the Hippodrome
âAndreas Gkoutzioukostas
19 The Peira
âDieter Simon
20 Legal Education in Constantinople in the 11th Century: âSchool of Lawsâ and the âGuardian of the Lawsâ
âAlexander Liarmacopulus
21 The âEndemousaâ Synod
âSpyros Troianos
Indices
Preface
âEleftheria Papagianni and Daphne Penna
AbbreviationsV
Notes on ContributorsX
Part 1: Introduction
1 The Birth of Byzantine Law
âZachary Chitwood
2 The Creation of a Parallel Legal Order: Canon Law
âSpyros Troianos
3 The History of Research on Byzantine Law
âMarios Th. Tantalos
Part 2: From Constantine the Great up to Justinianâs Death
4 Byzantine Law from Constantine the Great to the Death of Justinian: an Overview
âVasileios-Alexandros Kollias
5 Codification of the leges: Codex Theodosianus and Codex Justinianus
âKalliopi Papakonstantinou
6 Codification of the ius: the Digest
âGiuseppe Falcone
7 The Institutes of Justinian
âKalliopi Papakonstantinou
8 The Novels of Justinian
âPeter Sarris
9 Law Teaching at the Time of Justinian
âDaphne Penna
Part 3: From Justinianâs Death up to Basil I
10 From Justinianâs Death up to Basil I: an Overview
âValerio Massimo Minale
11 The Canons of the Synod of Trullo: a Code of Canon Law and Its Relation to State Legislation
âWolfram Brandes
12 The âIsaurianâ Ecloga
âFausto Goria
13 From the Appendix Eclogae to the Eclogadion: Inclining Back to Justinianic Law
âFausto Goria
Law at the Time of the Macedonian Dynasty
14 Law at the Time of the Macedonian Dynasty: an Overview
âKalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara
15 The Procheiros Nomos and the Eisagoge
âThomas E. van Bochove
16 The Novels of Leo VI the Wise
âKalliopi (Kelly) Bourdara
17 The Great Codification. The Basilica cum scholiis and Their Immediate Precursor(s)
âThomas E. van Bochove
18 The Court of the Hippodrome
âAndreas Gkoutzioukostas
19 The Peira
âDieter Simon
20 Legal Education in Constantinople in the 11th Century: âSchool of Lawsâ and the âGuardian of the Lawsâ
âAlexander Liarmacopulus
21 The âEndemousaâ Synod
âSpyros Troianos
Indices
This volume will appeal to readers interested in Byzantine law, the legal history of the Eastern Roman Empire, medieval history, relations between the church and state in Byzantium, canon law, Byzantine justice, or Byzantine legal education.