Papinian

Papinian
Birth nameAemilius Paulus Papinianus
Born142 CE
Emesa, Roman Syria
Died212 CE (aged 69–70)
Rome
AllegianceRoman Empire
Years of service205 CE–212 CE
RankPraetorian prefect
UnitPraetorian Guard

Aemilius Papinianus (Latin pronunciation: [ae̯ˈmɪliʊs paːpɪniˈaːnʊs]; Ancient Greek: Αἰμίλιος Παπινιανός;[1] 142 CE–212 CE), simply rendered as Papinian (/pəˈpɪniən/)[2] in English, was a celebrated Roman jurist, magister libellorum, attorney general (advocatus fisci) and, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in 205 CE, praetorian prefect.

Papinian was one of the most revered jurists in ancient Rome, as third year law students were given the title "Papinianistae" (meaning "they that are worthy to study Papinian"). In his time, he had been called "the Asylum of Right and Treasurer of the Laws".[3] Along with Gaius, Paulus, Modestinus and Ulpian, he was made one of the five jurists whose recorded views were considered decisive by the Law of Citations of 426 CE; their views would later be considered the only suitable ones to be cited as primary sources for the Codex Theodosianus and the Corpus Juris Civilis, provided that Papinian's views prevailed whenever those of the four other jurists were not congruent. The 16th century French jurist Jacques Cujas wrote that "there was never such a great lawyer before, nor ever will be after him".[3]

  1. ^ Ζαρζαμπίδης, Κωνσταντίνος (2012). Απειρώνυμον (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. 4. Athens.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ "Papinian". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Mac Chombaich de Colquhoun was invoked but never defined (see the help page).