1,600-Year-Old Scraps Turn Out to Be a Lost Roman Law Book
Learn how seven pieces of 1,600-year-old parchment revealed what may be a Roman pocket law book about taxes, roads, grain, and public buildings.
A group of seven fragments, over 1,600 years old, has been identified as possibly constituting a Roman legal code, according to experts at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. The fragments, made of animal skin, were discovered by classical scholar Matthijs Wibier, who pieced together the largest, most intact sections. The texts, written in Latin, contain specific laws relating to taxes, road maintenance, grain distribution, and public building regulations.
This is the first known example of such a pocket law book, a small collection designed for traveling officials or wealthy landowners. The laws date to the reigns of Constantius II and Julian, who ruled between 337 and 363. The unique writing style and the focus on specific, relevant laws suggest that the book contained only the most pertinent regulations, rather than the extensive decrees found in other Roman legal codes.
The discovery sheds new light on the practical aspects of Roman law and the role of the wealthy in maintaining the empire's infrastructure.
Written by urgent.news from Discover Magazine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
