This code promulgated for the Romans of Burgundy has been styled variously: Lex Romana, Liber legis Theodosii et Novellarum, Papianus, or Lex Papiania and it is by the name of Papinian that we most fre quently read of it. The ascription of this code to the Roman juris-consult Papinianus is an error which has arisen from an error of an early copyistoften repeated by later scribes. The Lex Papiania is an adaptation of the Theodosian code. It presents indications of a common parentage with the Interpre tado of the Breviarium Alarici. It contains fragments of the work of Roman jurists that have not elsewhere been preserved. By this
code the Wehrgeld system for centuries so peculiarly Germanic, is reimposed upon the Romans. With the Visigothic and Burgundian codes " territorially " triumphs. What does all this amount to? Why should we study the Barbarian Codes or any other section of historical jurisprudence? The answers are plain. By such study we obtain a knowledge of legal foundations, we broaden the bases of legal principles, we anchor theories to firm facts. Again, these codes and other ancient laws afford a clear, and in many cases the only, guide to impor tant periods of history. Johns Hopkins University.
October, 1897.
