Domicius Ulpiano

Ulpiano Statue. Palace of Justice (Brussels).

Gnaeus or Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus (Latin: Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus; Tyre?, 170?-Rome, 228) was a Roman jurist of Phoenician, magister libellorum. He was tutor, adviser and prefect of the praetorium of Emperor Alexander Severus. To him is due the well-known definition of justice as the continuous and perpetual will to give each one what corresponds to him.

Historical background

The exact date of his birth is unknown. He usually places it around the year 170, in Phoenicia. He was a member of one of the most important Roman knight families in the Roman province of Syria.He developed his literary activity between the years 211 and 222, particularly during the rule of Emperor Caracalla (r. 211-217).

His public career paralleled that of his rival Paulo. He was adviser to his teacher Papiniano, when he held the prefecture of the praetorium and, in addition, he himself served as prefect of the praetorium of Alejandro Severo until the year 228.

After Papinian's assassination in 212 and the persecution against Geta's sympathizers, he decided to retire into private life. At that time he wrote most of his legal works. He dedicated himself especially to composing complex dogmatic comments, as well as monographs intended for popularization.

During the government of Heliogábalo he was exiled from Rome, according to the Historia Augusta, just for being a good man, a bonus vir. In the year 222, when Alejandro Severo was chosen as emperor, he was able to return and was called to participate in the government, as an adviser and later as a praetorian prefect.

His program, which sought to reduce the privileges granted by Heliogabalus to the Praetorian Guard, in order to increase control over the military element, sparked enmity with it and an assassination attempt. Finally, he was assassinated by the Praetorians in the palace in front of the Emperor, in the course of a revolt between the soldiers and the crowd, probably in 228. One of his disciples, Herenius Modestino, became the foremost jurist of the next generation.

Works

His works include commentaries ad Sabinum (on ius civile) in 51 books, ad Edictum (on the praetor's edict) in 81 books (plus 2 books ad edictum aedilium curulium as an appendix).

He also wrote various texts on the powers of magistrates and imperial officials, among others, 19 books of officio proconsulis, 3 books of officio consulis and several texts in a single book (libri singulares) on the office of the quaestor, the praefectus urbis and the praefectus vigilum. In addition, he wrote 2 books of Responsa (comments on real cases), 10 of Disputationes, 7 of Regulae (on rules) and some Institutions in 2 books.

Only a few passages of his works included in the Digest and in certain private and official collections have survived, among others: the Fragmenta iuris Romani Vaticana preserved in a codex from the 16th century IV from the Vatican Library, discovered in 1820 by Cardinal Angelo Mai; a papyrus from the Vienna Library discovered by Endlicher in 1835, with fragments of the first book of the Institutiones; and a parchment from the Strasbourg Library, with passages from the Disputationes.

His works were unoriginal but profound, having great success among contemporary and subsequent jurists. In it he quoted many of the previous jurists and literally copied laws and senate consults, he simply carried out a compilation task.

The «Fundamental Precepts» or «The Three Maxims» of Ulpiano

"The precepts of right are: to live honestly, not to harm anyone and to give to each one what is his" (Iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuereD.1.10.1).

1. Living honestly. These precepts, of moral content, do not therefore cease to be also legal. The Ius serves to guarantee public honesty and good customs, and who violates them, will be passable from the legal sanction for being their contrary to the honesty vivare.
2. Don't hurt anyone.. Whoever abstains from the conduct prohibited by the laws obeys the precept of not harming anyone, being just. The alteration of the just balance that injures the affections, the person and his property, that is, imports an injury to his or her rights, compels the restoration of the assaulted order.
3. Give everyone his (suum cuique tribuere). Whoever does what the laws rule is doing to give everyone his own. Complying with contracts, keeping covenants, recognizing the rights of others are tiny in giving their own to each. Among other important concepts we have the Aboutiustitia and iurisprudentiaInternet. This precept contains the idea of common justice to Ulpiano, Aristotle, Plato and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Importance

Although he did not possess the talent and originality of Papiniano, in his work he dedicated himself to achieving the most complete and meticulous compilation of the law in force at his time, just like Paulo. It has been said of his writings that, although they were monotonous because they followed their sources to the letter, since Ulpiano rarely expressed his own opinions, they had a clear and simple style, which allowed him to become the most popular with lawyers.

He was included, along with Gayo, Paulo, Modestino and Papiniano, in the citation law of 426, which regulated the recitatio of the works of jurists before the courts, that is, which jurists could be invoked and the criteria for the judge's decision in the face of diverse opinions of these.

Although in 321 Constantine I forbade the use of fragments of Ulpiano to make allegations in trials, as he considered that the author's thought was taken out of context, a century later, Valentinian III made a law of citations, in 426, in which the ban was lifted. Despite this, it was decreed that in case there were contradictions between the jurists, the opinion of Papiniano will always predominate.

His activity in exposing the law allowed him to obtain the greatest prize for a Roman jurist: being the most used in Justinian's compilation, in which a third part comes from his works, making him one of the main informants of Roman law.