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Author Dillon, John Noël

Title The justice of Constantine : law, communication, and control / John Noël Dillon
Published Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c2012

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Description 1 online resource (295 p.)
Series Law and society in the ancient world
Law and society in the ancient world.
Contents The sources and the Codex Theodosianus -- Formal characteristics of the legislation of Constantine -- Changes in legislation from Diocletian to Constantine -- The propagation of justice -- Constantine and the provincials -- Constantine and the imperial bureaucracy -- Control and consultation : breves, relationes, consultationes -- Appellatio
Summary As the first Christian emperor of Rome, Constantine the Great has long interested those studying the establishment of Christianity. But Constantine is also notable for his ability to control a sprawling empire and effect major changes. The Justice of Constantine examines Constantine's judicial and administrative legislation and his efforts to maintain control over the imperial bureaucracy, to guarantee the working of Roman justice, and to keep the will of his subjects throughout the Roman Empire. John Dillon first analyzes the record of Constantine's legislation and its relationship to prior legislation. His initial chapters also serve as an introduction to Roman law and administration in later antiquity. Dillon then considers Constantine's public edicts and internal communications about access to law, trials and procedure, corruption, and punishment for administrative abuses. How imperial officials relied on correspondence with Constantine to resolve legal questions is also considered. A study of Constantine's expedited appellate system, to ensure provincial justice, concludes the book. Constantine's constitutions reveal much about the Theodosian Code and the laws included in it. Constantine consistently seeks direct sources of reliable information in order to enforce his will. In official correspondence, meanwhile, Constantine strives to maintain control over his officials through punishment; trusted agents; and the cultivation of accountability, rivalry, and suspicion among them
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-275 and indexes
Notes Description based on print version record; resource not viewed
Subject Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, -337.
SUBJECT Constantine I, Emperor of Rome, -337 fast
Subject Roman law -- Sources.
Roman law -- History.
Roman law -- History -- Sources
Justice, Administration of (Roman law) -- History
LAW -- Customary.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Government -- Comparative.
HISTORY -- General.
Justice, Administration of (Roman law)
Roman law
SUBJECT Rome -- History -- Constantine I, the Great, 306-337. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85115161
Rome -- History -- Constantine I, the Great, 306-337 -- Sources
Subject Rome (Empire)
Genre/Form History
Sources
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2020749598
ISBN 9780472028382
0472028383