Papinian definition of Papinian in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Papinian (Aemilius Papinianus) (pəpĭn`ēən), d. 212, Roman jurist. He was a close friend of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus Severus or Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus) (sĕptĭm`ēəs sēvē`rəs)
..... Click the link for more information. , under whom he was libellorum magister [master of the rolls] and later Praetorian prefect; but Severus' son Caracalla Caracalla (kărəkăl`ə), 188–217, Roman emperor (211–17); son of Septimius Severus .
..... Click the link for more information. had Papinian put to death for reasons that are obscure. Papinian was a jurist of enormous erudition, perhaps the greatest figure in Roman law Roman law, the legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law .
..... Click the link for more information. , and a stern moralist. A constitution of Theodosius II and Valentinian (426) reflects the Roman attitude toward him: five jurists (and the authors whom they quoted) were set up as the sole authorities to be cited—Paulus, Gaius, Ulpian, Modestinus, and Papinian. If they were not unanimous the majority was to prevail, but, in case of equal division, the opinion of Papinian was to decide. His chief works were Quaestiones (37 books), Responsa (19 books), Definitiones (2 books), and De adulteriis (2 books). They are known through quotations in the Theodosian Code and in the Digest of the Corpus Juris Civilis Corpus Juris Civilis (kôr`pəs j
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See H. F. Jolowicz, Roman Foundations of Modern Law (1957); B. W. Frier, The Rise of the Roman Jurists (1985).