On This Day In Roman History, February 2
The Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum, commonly known in English as The Breviary of Alaric, is dispersed through The Visigothic Kingdom on February 2, 506 CE. These books were a compilation of Roman religious and public law and imposed under the Visigothic King, Alaric II, in his 22nd year of reigning. It was compiled by nobles and clergy alike, and approved by a Anianus who was a contemporary Gallo-Roman nobleman living under the Visigoth rule. These texts were not aimed at the Visigoths, whom already had their own set of laws formed previously under Euric, but rather aimed at the Hispano-Roman and Gallo-Roman populations living in The Visigothic Kingdom.
Did you know?
This compilation, often referred to as a codex, had compiled some 43 other works including: 16 books of the Codex Theodosianus, 13 titles of the Gregorian code, 5 books of the Sententiae Receptae of Julius Paulus, 2 titles of the Hermogenian code, the Institutes of Gaius, and the novels of Theodosius II, Valentinian III, Marcian, Majorian and Libius Severus. Together this codex was known to the Visigoths as the Lex Romana, or Lex Theodosii. It would not be until the 1500's the term “Breviarium” or "Breviary" would be used to describe it.
Pictured: Page from a 9th-century manuscript of the Breviary of Alaric, depicting King Lodhanri with a bishop, a duke and an earl. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The Visigothic Kingdom at this point in time stretched the western coasts of modern day Spain to the edge of Burgundy, boarding the Kingdom of The Franks. The capital was Tolosa (Toulousa), and the kingdom was bordered to the north by the Suebe.
John F. Matthews observes from the writing of the Codex Theodosianus: "The Theodosian Code does, however, differ from the work of Justinian (except the Novellae), in that it was largely based not on existing juristic writings and collections of texts, but on primary sources that had never before been brought together." Justinian’s Code, published about 100 years later, comprised both (the Latin) ius, "law as an interpretive discipline", and (the Latin) leges, "the primary legislation upon which the interpretation was based."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion. My opinion today is that the Visigoths really weren't super artistic. I mean, I know the dark ages were starting, and art was really declining, but come on. Look at that image above. Just look at it. Even though it may not display artistic brilliance, at least the Visigoths had the good sense to compile this codex for us to check out today, and it is important due the massive amount of historical context that it provides. It is very interesting to note that Alaric wasn't going to impose his strictly Arian Christian views on the Latins he now reigned over, but instead compiled this very "Latin" Christian text. Probably a pretty savvy move to retain power politically.
Sources
Kazhdan, A. P., Talbot, A. M., Cutler, A., Gregory, T. E., & Ševčenko, N. P. (1991). The Oxford dictionary of Byzantium. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krueger, P., Mommsen, T., Meyer, P. M., Gradenwitz, O., & Wretschko, A. V. (1990). Codex Theodosianus. Hildesheim: Weidmann.
Wolfram, H. (1988). History of the Goths. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Further Reading:
Also on this day:
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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