Compiling the Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum in Late Antiquity
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:25th Aug '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The expansion of Christianity and the codification of Roman law are two of the most significant facets of late antiquity. The Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum, or Collation of the Laws of Moses and the Romans, is one of the most perplexing works of late antiquity: a law book compiled at the end of the fourth century by an anonymous editor who wanted to show the similarity between laws of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, and Roman law. Citing first laws from the Hebrew Bible - especially from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy which he believed were written by Moses - the anonymous Collator then compared corresponding passages from Roman jurists and from Roman laws to form discussions on sixteen topics such as homicide, adultery, homosexuality, incest, and cruelty towards slaves. While earlier scholars wrestled with dating the Collatio, the religious identity of the Collator, and the purpose of the work, this book suggests that the Collator was a Christian lawyer writing in the last years of the fourth century in an attempt to draw pagan lawyers to seeing the connections between the law of a monotheistic God and traditional Roman law. Frakes's volume presents a five-chapter historical study of the Collatio with a revised Latin text, new English translation, and a historical and juristic commentary.
it is a well-researched and extremely useful volume which should bring the Collatio to the attention of a wider audience and encourage further research into this fascinating and enigmatic text. * Richard Flower, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
The author... has produced a fine book that sheds a very bright light on some varied an interesting aspect of Roman law. This book cannot be ignored by specialists writing on Collatio, fourth century Christian-pagan relations or fourth century Roman law, and anyone with an interest in the history and evolution of Roman law will find this book rewarding and enlightening. * Arye Schreiber, The Cambridge Law Journal *
The author is to be congratulated on her diligence and perceptive analysis of the older and recent excavations, as well as on her attempt to make sense of the complexities of the evidence. The comprehensive discussion of the historiography of this most famous site, and the place of the famous treasure within it, is a fascinating account of lost opportunities and of the valiant attempt to rescue the evidence from the 1950s from those members of the excavation team who are still alive. * Barbara E. Crawford, Early Medieval Europe *
ISBN: 9780199589401
Dimensions: 222mm x 150mm x 40mm
Weight: 594g
384 pages