Posts Tagged ‘“Beryte School of law”’
“Beryte (Beirut) School of law” by Joy Tabet
Posted by: adonis49 on: August 7, 2010
“Beryte (Beirut) School of law” by Joy Tabet
In the previous two articles, I recounted the story of Beirut (Lebanon), confirming its status as the Roman Empire city for teaching laws and generating professors of jurisprudence between 150 to 556 AC.
Beirut was the “Mother and wet-nurse of laws“. This article is providing details on the 5 most famous jurists in the second and third century who acceded to the highest functions in administration and governance in the Roman Empire and Byzantium Empire.
The Roman Emperial Constitution called “law of citations” ordered judges to applying the opinions of the five illustrious jurists. When there is equality in alternative opinions then, it was Papinian opinion that prevailed.
Gaius (110-180) produced the course in law school called “Institutes”; it was a manual in 4 volumes exposing the Roman laws for civil rights. He commented on the “Twelve Tables” code in seven books. The doctrine of Gaius was authority to judges in the second and third centuries.
Armilius Papinian (142-212) was born in Homs (Syria). Cervidius Scaevola was his law teacher and emperor Septimus Severus was his schoolmate and relative. He was named “Lawyer of the treasury” by Emperor Marcus Aurelius and then became the prefect of the magistrate (the first dignitary of the Empire). Emperor Septimus died in 211 and asked Papinian to guide his two sons Caracalla and Geta.
A year later, Caracalla assassinated Geta and demanded of Papinian to justify to the senate and the people the murder. Papinian refused saying: “It is easier to commit parricide than to justifying it. It is worse than a new parricide to accusing an innocent victim.” Papinian was assassinated by a praetorian guard of Caracalla. He was considered the “primus” among the other four illustrious classic masters of laws.
The doctrine of Papinian constituted the curriculum of the third years in law school; only 8 out of 19 books of “responses” were taught in that year. In a period where slaves were considered chattel Papinian stated the principle of “Equality to all and liberty for each individual” almost 1,800 years before the UN universal declaration on human rights in 1948.
Julius Paulus was born in Tyr (Lebanon) and became a member of the “Emperor council”. He ruled the Empire with the Emperor grand mother Julia Maesa as Emperor Alexander Sevirus was under age. He wrote 236 works and was the most prolific among the classic jurists. Of all his production, only the “fragments” in the “Digeste” and 5 books addressed to his son remain. The 23 books of “Responses” were taught at the 4th year in law school. There are over 2,000 citations of Paulus in the Digeste.
Domitius Ulpian (170-228) was born in Tyr (Lebanon) and lived in Beirut. He succeeded Papinian as head of the law school and taught jurisprudence in Rome for a while. He revised laws to reforming the Roman society and to limiting the dictatorship and vast privileges of the Praetorian Guards.
Even Emperor Alexander Severus could not protect Ulpian from the wrath of the praetorian guards who assassinated Ulpian in the presence of the emperor. Ulpian wrote 16 books called “Libri ad edictum” that were taught in the second year at law school. Over the third of the Digeste are compilation of Ulpian opinions. He contributed to Roman civil code more than all the combined Roman jurists. He stated: “All mankind are equal in natural rights”
Herennius Modestinus was a famous jurisconsult under Emperor Alexander Severus (222-235). He was the most brilliant disciple of Ulpian. He became consul with emperor Probus (276-282) and wrote 92 books of laws.
Beirut was destroyed by earthquake in 556 and was finished up by a major fire.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Beirut was a quaint fishing and small port village. The European consuls deserted Sidon in order to build an adequate merchant port in Beirut. The civil war destroyed Beirut again and is being rebuilt according to commercial standards of high towers devoid of any Orient character or spirit.
You can no longer rent a small apartment in Beirut: Oil money after the latest financial crash overvalued Real Estate by 600% within two years in Beirut and Lebanon.
Wet-Nurse city of laws: Beirut of Lebanon (Beryte during Roman Empire). Part 2
Posted by: adonis49 on: August 4, 2010
Wet-Nurse city of laws: Beirut of Lebanon (Beryte during Roman Empire). Part 2
Between 150 and 551 AC, the city of Beirut (Beryte) was the official Roman State law center and this recognition extended to the Byzantium Empire.
Beirut had the preferred law school for law students and professors flocking from the four corners of the Empire. Beirut was called “Mother of laws” and “The most magnificent city” during the Roman Empire.
Emperor Justinian I (527-566) attributed to Beirut the title of “wet-nurse of laws”. In the 5th century, Beirut law school started teaching law in both Latin and Greek languages. Paradoxically, the main language of the common people was the written language Syriac (Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus).
Another demonstration that written languages are the domain of the elite classes used as coded language for administrations and government of people. Common people had to suffer the consequences of not knowing the language of their dominating Masters; in this case either Latin or Greek.
In the second and third century, Beirut produced the 5 most famous and illustrious classical Jurists who had written the “Digeste”, “Institutes”, Rules, Sentences, and Constitutions.
They are: Gaius (110-180), Papinian (142-212) and assassinated for his stands, Paulus, Ulpian (170-228) and assassinated for his positions, and Herrenius Modestinus. They were called the “Oracles of Roman laws” because judges had to decide cases based on the opinions of these five justices. If there is equality in opposing opinions then it was the opinion of Papinian to be the definitive resolution.
The third century generated the State professors Gregorius, Hermogenius, Marcian, Scaevola, and Tryphoninus.
The fourth century produced the professors Domninus, Scylacius, and Sebastianus.
The fifth century, called the most brilliant for the law school of Beirut, generated the state professors Euxon, Sabinus, Cyril the elder, Patricius, Demostenes, Domninus, Eudoxius, Amblichus, and Leontius. Most of the illustrious law professors were born in Lebanon and Syria and reached the highest positions in the Roman and Byzantium Empires.
In the sixth century, Beirut school of law had the professors Dorotheus, Anatolius, Julien, Thalelee, Isidore, Stephane, and Thereupon.
Rome fell in 476 and Western Europe had to wait until the Crusader’s campaigns (1096-1291) for the Justinian civil code of laws the “Digeste” to be found and rediscovered and then applied in Europe starting in the 12th century.
In 551, an earthquake demolished the city of Beirut. The law school was temporarily moved to Sidon.
In 560, as the professors returned to Beirut then a huge fire burned the city again. Beirut was still in ruin by 600.
As Islam Arab conquered the Near East region in 635, Beirut recaptured its previous status as a law center, but without the brilliance of previous periods.
Beirut was compiling Islamic laws according to “Charia”. During the last 7 Omayyad caliphs and the first two Abbassid caliphs (690 to 770) the Lebanese theologians (ulema) and judges (fakihs and cadis) were the cornerstones for the nascent Islamic jurisprudence.
Imam El Uzahi (707-774) from Baalbek and who studied in Beirut and lived was the most brilliant and most sought after fakih in his life. His doctrine was applied in Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria for 200 years.
Then, the doctrines of Hanafi (Syria), the Chafii (Egypt), the Maliki (Andalusia and Northern Africa) took the ascendancy.
In 1877 was founded the first modern law school in Beirut bu Bishop Youssef el Debs. The law school of the Wisdom (La Sagesse) had the professors Nicolas Naccache and Boulos Effendi Zein wo compiled the ottoman civil law (Medjellet) in 16 books of 1851 law articles grouped in six subjects. Current Beirut has the law schools of the french Jesuits founded in 1913 by Paul Huvelin; the State Lebanese school established in 1959; the Arab University under the patronage of the University of Alexandria and instituted in 1960; the Byblos law school linked to the Maronite Order of Kaslik Holy Spirit University; and the Islamic Chiaa faculty instituted in 1994 by Imam Chamseddine.
Beirut and Lebanon were ruined by mankind during the civil war that started in 1975 and lasted 15 years. Beirut is being rebuilt with modern highrises that lack its original spirit
Note 1: The American University of Beirut has not yet opened a law faculty. If we know that most of the members in the Lebanese Parliament are lawyers and barely anyone of them master the English language then, whatever deal the US government had with France for the monopoly of jurisprudence philosophy and procedure must be outdated.
Note 2: Topic taken from the book “Beryte School of law” by Joy Tabet (67 pages)
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