What code was One of Rome's greatest contributions to civilization?

Answer 1

The influence of Roman civil law spread through Europe with the rediscovery of a collection of books called Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), which was also dubbed the Justinian Code in the 16th century. It was commissioned by the emperor Justinian I (or the Great, reigned 527-565). A first edition was published in 529 and a second one in 534.


This work was forgotten after the fall of the Roman Empire until it was discovered in a library in Pisa in 1070. It had a big impact because many people were impressed with the key principles of Roman civil law: citizenship and citizenship rights, equality under the law, the right to a trial and the right to appeal, innocent until proven guilty, that the burden of proof rest on the accuser and not on the accused, and that an unfair law can be repealed. It also included important essays on law and student textbooks which facilitated the study of law. Eventually, though this work, Roman civil law became the foundation of the civil laws of many modern countries.


The Corpus Juris Civilis came in four parts


1) The Codex (book) which was a review of imperial laws going back 400 years (to the time of Hadrian). It scrapped obsolete or unnecessary laws, made changes when necessary and clarified obscure passages. Its aim was to put the laws in a single book (previously they were written on many different scrolls), harmonise conflicting view among jurists which arose from centuries of poorly organised development of Roman law and have a coherent body of law. It consists of 12 books, 1 book covers ecclesiastical law, the duties of high officers and sources of law, 7 cover private law, 1 criminal law and 3 administrative laws.
2) The Digesta which was a collection of fragments taken from essays on laws written by jurists (mostly from the 2nd and 3rd centuries) and which expressed the private opinions of legal experts. Most were from Ulpian (40%) and Paulus (17%). It was a large amount of writing which was condensed in 50 books. It was used as an advanced law student textbook.
3) The Institutiones was a textbook for first year law students written by two professors. It was a series of extracts from statements on the basic institutions of Roman law from the teaching books by 'writers of authority.' In was largely based on the texts of Gaius, a jurist of the 2nd century AD.
4) The Novellae Constitutiones, which contained laws recently issued by Justinian.

Answer 2

One of Rome's greatest contributions to civilization was their legal system and the development of the concept of "rule of law." The Romans codified their laws into a comprehensive legal code known as the Twelve Tables, which provided equal protection under the law for all citizens. This system of law and justice had a profound influence on later European legal systems.