The Novellae Constitutiones ("new constitutions"; ), or Justinian's Novels, are now considered one of the four major units of Roman law initiated by Roman emperor Justinian I in the course of his long reign (AD 527–565). The other three pieces are: the Codex Justinianus, the Digest, and the Institutes. Justinian's quaestor Tribonian was primarily responsible for compiling these last three. Together, the four parts are known as the Corpus Juris Civilis. Whereas the Code, Digest, and Institutes were designed by Justinian as coherent works, the Novels are diverse laws enacted after 534 (when he promulgated the second edition of the Code) that never were officially compiled during his reign.

History

Justinian’s first Code, issued in 529, compiled and harmonized the imperial enactments (constitutiones, or constitutions) of previous emperors. After the Code was promulgated, only it, and not the prior imperial legislation, could be cited as law. However, in 530 and 531, Justinian issued the quinquaginta decisiones (fifty decisions) that resolved differences among the writings of classical jurists, and he continued to issue other new laws as well. This meant the Code could no longer be the sole, unified source of imperial legislation. Hence, in 534 Justinian issued the Constitutio cordi nobis, creating a second edition of the Code (Codex repetitae praelectionis). This edition integrated his new legislation into the imperial enactments in the first edition and superseded it. Justinian continued to legislate after he created the second edition of the Code. Thus, in his pragmatic sanction of 554 (Sanctio pragmatica pro petitione Vigilii), he foresaw that he would need to maintain a collection of these new constitutions modifying the Code (novellae constitutiones, quae post nostri codicis confectionem). This he did in the form of an archive called the Liber legum or Libri legum.

Timeline

While Justinian never made an official manuscript compilation of the new laws, private persons filled this void by making unofficial collections in several forms. The following timeline provides a succinct description of these collections and explains how they were transmitted through the centuries.