Table Of Contentthe justice of constantine
LAW AND SOCIETY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
SERIES EDITORS:
Dennis P. Kehoe, Tulane University
Cynthia J. Bannon, Indiana University
Matthew R. Christ, Indiana University
The study of law in ancient societies has a distinguished tradition in both Anglo-
American and continental scholarship. Many of our fundamental ideas about
ancient society were built on research into legal sources. These traditions continue
to provide a foundation for newer approaches to law and society. More recent
scholarship draws on a range of methodologies to analyze legal practices, including
critical legal studies, sociology of law, economics, and literary criticism.
This series, distinguished by its emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to law
and society, seeks out innovative approaches to ancient legal studies that bring new
perspectives to legal topics as well as to broader questions concerning the impact of
law on commercial, political, and cultural practices in the ancient world.
The Justice of Constantine
Law, Communication, and Control
John Noël Dillon
the university of michigan press
ann arbor
Copyright © 2012by John Noël Dillon
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by
The University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
cPrinted on acid-free paper
2015 2014 2013 2012 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dillon, John Noel.
The justice of Constantine : law, communication, and control / John Noel
Dillon.
p. cm. — (Law and society in the ancient world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-472-11829-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-472-02838-2 (e-book)
1. Roman law—Sources. 2. Roman law—History. 3. Roman law—History—Sources.
4. Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, d. 337. 5. Rome—History—Constantine I,
the Great, 306–337. 6. Rome—History—Constantine I, the Great,
306–337—Sources. 7. Justice, Administration of (Roman law)—History.
I. Title.
KJA395.D 2012
340.5'4—dc23 2012005025
i dedicate this book to my grandparents:
john and margaret dillon
and
robert and marguerite cartier
Preface
The present book is the revision, largely accomplished in Heidelberg, Ger-
many, of my doctoral dissertation, “The Legislation of Constantine the
Great: Justice, Administration, and Reform,” which I submitted at Yale Uni-
versity in October 2008. I was blessed to call the Yale Department of Clas-
sics my academic home, and I am profoundly grateful to Yale University for
supporting my graduate education. I owe special thanks to John Matthews,
my dissertation advisor, who brought me to the world of Late Antiquity.
The choice of the subject of this book resulted from the coincidence of my
interest in Roman law and government, his expertise in the vibrant field of
Late Antiquity, and the irresistible draw of Constantine himself. I realized
only later, when well into the project, that the 1,700-year jubilee of Con-
stantine’s elevation to emperor was imminent.
I am grateful to all my friends at Yale, Heidelberg, and beyond, who
have helped me reach this point. It is my honor to thank the Fulbright Pro-
gram of the United States Department of State for sponsoring my first year
of research, at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, from 2005 to
2006. I am indebted to Jens Uwe-Krause at the Historisches Seminar, who
supported my Fulbright application, encouraged my work, and acted as my
Ersatzdoktorvater during my stay; and to Alfons Bürge and his colleagues at
the Leopold-Wenger-Institut für Rechtsgeschichte, who took me in as one
of their own. Munich still holds a special place in my heart. I am moreover
grateful to the Mrs. Gales Whiting Foundation for the generous funding I
received while finishing my dissertation, 2007–2008.
It is humbling to think of all those who have helped me complete this
book. First of all, I thank the readers of my dissertation: Bill Metcalf,
Michael Peachin, and Anders Winroth. I owe a special debt to Claudia
Kreuzsaler. I further thank fellow Yale students Felix Racine and Tristan
Taylor, whose advice and insights, and even patience, bore me up as I strug-
gled to write a μέγα βιβλίον that was not a μέγα κακόν.
Heidelberg was an ideal place for revising the work and preparing it for
publication. I am grateful to the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissen -
schaften, which sponsored my current research project on the Roman Re-
public in the WIN-Kolleg “Raumordnung, Norm und Recht in historischen
Kulturen Europas und Asiens” and enabled me to live and work in Heidel-
berg. I moreover wish to express my gratitude to Kai Trampedach and
Christian Witschel, under whose auspices I worked as a postdoc in the out-
standing Seminar für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik in Heidelberg. I am
happy to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe Ted Lendon, whose com-
ments and criticism of my work we often discussed at the Heidelberg
Mensa. Johannes Wienand, Harold Drake, and Noel Lenski each read the
manuscript; their comments and criticism have been very valuable. I am
particularly grateful to Alexandra Eppinger, who generously helped check
and chase stray references in Heidelberg. Ellen Baurlee and Mary Hashman
at the University of Michigan Press have been wonderful guides through
the publication of my first book. Yii-Jan Lin has done more than her fair
share of reading, discussing, and commenting both on the dissertation and
on its revision; I owe it to her if I have become a smarter reader and a bet-
ter scholar. Finally, and above all, I thank my friend and colleague, Sebas -
tian Schmidt-Hofner, who patiently read and commented on the entire text
and gladly discussed with me the most diverse historical questions. His
thoughts and advice have been invaluable.
To my parents, John and Mary Ellen Dillon, I owe everything.
Contents
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1. The Sources and the Codex Theodosianus 12
2. Formal Characteristics of the Legislation of Constantine 35
3. Changes in Legislation from Diocletian to Constantine 60
4. The Propagation of Justice 90
5. Constantine and the Provincials 119
6. Constantine and the Imperial Bureaucracy 156
7. Control and Consultation: Breves, Relationes, Consultationes 192
8. Appellatio 214
Conclusion 251
Works Cited 259
Index Locorum 277
General Index 285
