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The Imperial Edicts of the Roman Law

By: Anavitarte, E. J.*

The imperial edicts or imperial constitutions (lat. constitutio principis) are the body of norms that the princeps or dominus , in exercise of his powers as emperor, could promulgate, among which are: (a) edicts, (b) mandates, (c) decrees, and (d) the rescripts.

Its development began as part of the prerogatives inherited by the Roman emperor, in his consular function as a magistrate , such as the ius edicendi─the power to promulgate edicts─and which would later be extended to the resolution of bureaucratic matters and particular cases.

Although they are a late source in Roman law, they constitute one of the main legal references of the way in which law was organized from the end of the 2nd century AD. C. Above all, after the beginning of the dominated, and the subsequent concentration of functions at the head of the emperor.

Definition of Imperial Edicts

It must be understood that the imperial constitutions were not a uniform body of norms grouped in a single document, but the common name of the decisions with which the emperor officially set his position on an issue, whether it was a judicial, administrative or merely legal issue. evaluative.

Imperial Edicts: Official decision, emanating from the authority of the emperor.

The word comes from the Latin constitutio principis , whose translation would be: "what constitutes the prince", synthesizing the character of the figure. And given their authority throughout the empire, these decisions were an important source of law, although in some cases they were not legally binding.

Classification of the Imperial Edicts

Since the imperial constitutions were only the name given to the legal acts issued by the emperor, we must understand what legal acts the emperor could then issue in use of his functions, in what cases and how they operated.

Edicts

The edicts, in general, were already a prerogative of the magistrates, so as the figure of emperor was essentially a magistracy, they had the ability to issue edicts . Given the maximum power that the emperors had, and that their decisions had to be followed throughout the Roman Empire, the edicts of the emperor were an integral part of the imperial constitutions.

It is worth mentioning that under Emperor Hadrian all the formulas with which edicts were usually issued were compiled and the perpetual edict was published , which further concentrated legislative work in the hands of the emperor.

Decrees

The Roman emperor, given the absence of separation of powers, and the investiture of a magistrate, also resolved legal matters in which, due to their complexity or importance, he decided to intervene, either in the processing of a trial, or as an appeal of the ruling of a magistrate of lower range.

These decrees generally not only resolved the problem in question, but also dictated rules to resolve in the same way , as the emperor would, in future cases.

Mandates

The mandates were the documents issued by the emperor in use of his functions as the highest military authority of the empire, to instruct the governors and other officials about how they should administer their jurisdictions.

Rescripts

The rescripts were the way in which the emperor answered queries that were made to him by authorities or by very important civilians. Said answers were a habitual form of response and did not necessarily generate binding effects in future cases.

The rescripts ended up becoming one of the ways to manage the private affairs of the people, being the private council of the emperor, the one that responded to special requests from the people. Thus, for example, the adrogations after the third century, with the Dominated period, were made exclusively by imperial rescript.

Roman Law

Table of Contents

  1. Definition
  2. Classification
    1. Edict
    2. Decree
    3. Mandate
    4. Rescript

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Anavitarte, E. J. (2014, December). The Imperial Edicts of the Roman Law. Academia Lab. https://academia-lab.com/2014/12/17/the-imperial-edicts-of-the-roman-law/