Aemilius Papinianus

Aemilius Papinianus (142–212), also known as Papinian, was a celebrated Roman jurist, magister libellorum and, after the death of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus in 205, praetorian prefect.

Life

Little is known about Papinianus. He was perhaps of Syrian birth, for he is said to have been a kinsman of Septimus Severus' second wife, Julia Domna. A dubious passage in the Augustan History claims that he studied law with Severus under Quintus Cervidius Scaevola.

Papinianus was an intimate friend of the emperor Severus and accompanied him to Britain. Before his death the emperor commended his two sons Caracalla and Geta into his charge. Papinian tried to keep peace between the brothers, but with no better result than to encourage the hatred of Caracalla to which he felt victim in the general slaughter of Geta's friends which followed the fratricide of 212. The author of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article states that the details of Papinianus' death "are variously related, and have undergone legendary embellishment."

Much of his output has been lost, as what we have is small compared to other jurists such as Ulpian or Paul. The principal works of Papinianus include: Quaestiones in 37 books (written before 198); Responsa (written sometime between 204 and his death); Definitiones; and De adulteriis.

Papinianus was one of the most revered of Roman Jurists by the Romans, as third year law students where given the title Papinianistae "they that are worthy to study Papinian.

Law

In the Law of Citations (426) he is classed with Gaius, Paulus, Modestinus and Ulpian as one of the five jurists whose recorded views were considered decisive. The former are cited also as primary sources of the Codex Civilis of Theodosius II and Justinian. His view was to prevail if the other four were not congruent.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.