Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/129

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PAPINIANTUS.
PAPINIANTUS.
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QFragmenta Pairum Graecor. fascic. i. p. 13, &c.), hiid in the first volume of the Dibliotheca Patrum of Galland (fol. Venice, 1765), and of the Reliquiae Sacrae of Routh (8vo. Oxon. 1814). The last- named collection is the most complete. (Hieron. De Viris Illustr. c. 18; Fabric. Biblioth. Grace. vol. vii. p. 151 ; Cave, Hist Litt. ad ann. 108, vol. i. p. 47, ed. Oxford, 1740—1743 ; Tilleraont, Mtmoires, vol. ii. p. 296, &c.) [J.C. M.] P API AS, sculptor. [Aristeas.] PAPINIA'NUS, AEMI'LIUS was a pupil of Q. Cervidius Scaevola. An inscription records his parents to be Papinianus Hostilis and Eugenia Gracilis, and that they survived their son Aemilius Paullus Papinianus, who died in his thirty-seventh year. Aemilius Papinianus succeeded Septimius Severus, afterwards emperor, as Advocatus Fisci (Spartian. Caracall. 8). Now Severus held this office under Marcus Antoninus, and he was em- ployed in various high capacities by Marcus during his lifetime. Papinianus therefore was Advocatus Fisci during the reign of Marcus, who died a. d. 180. Severus became emperor A. d. 1.92, and died A. d. 211. There is therefore an interval of about thirty- two years between the death of Marcus and that of Severus, and consequently Papinianus, who held office under Marcus, and was put to death by Ca- racalla, the successor of Severus, must have been much more than thirty-six when he died. Papinian is said to have been related to Julia Domna, the second wife of Severus. (Spart. Cara- call. 8.) He was highly esteemed by Severus, under whom he was Libellorum magister (Dig. 20. tit. 5. s. 12), and afterwards praefectus praetorio. (Dion Cass. Ixxvi. 10. 14.) Paulus (Dig. 1 2. tit. 1. 6. 40) speaks of having delivered an opinion in the auditorium of Papinian. Paulus and Ulpian were both assessors to Papinian (Papiniano in consilio fuerunt, Spart. Pescen. Niger ^ 7). Lampridius {Alex. Severus^ 68) enumerates the " juris profes- Bores," as he terms those who were pupils of Papi- nian : in the list are the names of Ulpian, Paulus, Pomponius, Africanus, Florentinus and Modestinus, the most distinguished among the great Roman jurists. Severus came to Britain A. d. 208, in which year his sons M. Antoninus Caracalla and P. Sep- timius Geta were consuls, and he died at York A. D. 211. As Papinian was praefectus praetorio under Severus, and is mentioned as being sum- moned to the emperor's presence, when the design of Caracalla against his father's life was discovered, we may conclude that the illustrious jurist was in Britain during the residence of Severus ; and he may have drawn up the rescript given by Severus in the last year but one of his reign, at York (a. d. 210), to oneCaecilia. (Cod. 3. tit. 32. s. 1.) It is also said that the emperor commended his two sons to the care of Papinian, which seems to imply that he was at York when Severus died there. On the death of his father, Caracalla, according to Dion, dismissed Papinian from his office, and in the second year of his reign he murdered his bro- ther Geta, while he was clinging to his mother for protection. Papinian also was soon after put to death by the emperor's orders. The reasons given for his death were various, but it is easy to con- ceive that a tyrant like Caracalla would be satisfied with any excuse for getting rid of so stern a mo- nitor and so honest a man. The pretext may have been that he was a partisan of Geta, or that he re- PAPINIANUS.

fused to comply with the emperor's order to make a defence before the senate and the people of his brother's assassination (Spart. Caracallay 8) ; but Papinian 's real crime was his abilities and his in- tegrity. His biographer states (Spart. Caracall. 4) that Papinian was beheaded in the emperor's pre- sence, and that his son, who was then quaestor, perished about the same time. The dying words of Papinian warned his successor in the office of what his own fate might be, and they were pro- phetic ; for Macrinus, who did succeed him, rid the empire of its tyrannical master by assassination. (Spart. Caracall. 8, 6.) Spartianus apparently sup- posed that Papinian was praefectus praetorio at the time of his death. (Dion Cass. Ixxvii. 1, and the note of Reimarus.) There are 696 excerpts from Papinian's works in the Digest. These excerpts are from the thirty- seven books of Quaestiones, a work arranged ac- cording to the order of the Edict, the nineteen books of Besponsa, the two books of Definitiones., the two books De Addteriis, a single book De Adul- teriis, and a Greek work or fragment, intitled e/c roO da-TvyofuKov fxoi'o§L€ov rod Uaniviavov, a work which probably treated of the office of aedile both at Rome and in other towns. Papinian is chiefly cited by Paulus and Ulpian ; and he is also cited by Marcian. All these three jurists wrote notes on the works of Papinian, and in some cases at least dissented from him. The following references con- tain instances of annotations on Papinian : — Dig. 22. tit. 1. s. 1. § 2 ; 18. tit. 1. s. 72 ; 1. tit. 21. s. 1. §1 ; 3. tit. 5. 8. 31. §2. No Roman jurist had a higher reputation than Papinian. Spartianus (Severus, 21) calls him " juris asylum et doctrinae legalis thesaurus." The epithets of " prudentissimus," " consultissimus," " disertissimus," and others to the like effect, are bestowed upon him by various emperors. (Cod. 5. tit. 71. s. 14 ; 7. tit. 32. s. 3 ; 6. tit. 25. s. 9.) As a practical jurist and a writer, few of his countrymen can be compared with him. Indeed the great commentator, who has devoted a whole folio to his remarks upon Papinian, declares that he was the first of all lawyers who have been or are to be, that no one ever surpassed him in legal knowledge, and no one ever will equal him. (Cu- jacius, Opera, vol. iv.. In Prooein. ad Quaest. Papinian.) Nor is the reputation of Papinian un- merited. It was not solely because of the high station that he filled, his penetration and his know- ledge, that he left an imperishable name ; his ex- cellent understanding, guided by integrity of pur- pose, has made him the model of a true lawyer. The fragments of Papinian are sometimes obscure, and require the aid of a commentator ; but they will amply repay the labour that is necessary to seize the fullness of the meaning of this great master of jurisprudence. A constitution of Theodosius and Valentinian {Cod. Theod. ]. tit. 4, De Responsis Prudentum) declared all the writings of Papinian, Paulus, Caius, Ulpian and Modestinus to be authority for the judge ; the opinions of those jurists also were to have authority, whose discussions and opinions (tractatus et opiniones) all the five mentioned jurists had inserted in their writings, as Scaevola, Sabinus, Julian and Marcellus : if the opinions of these jurists, as expressed in their writings, were not imanimous, the opinion of the majority was to pre- vail i if there was an equal number on each side,

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