Time of Byzantian emperor Justinian’s governing (527-565 AD) was doubtless and comprehensive blossoming of the East Roman civilization. In a course of centralizing political and legal reforms which were conducted at active personal sharing of the emperor, universal codification of the on the new principles reflecting a high level of Byzantium within the limits of the Roman legal culture, has been implemented also.
In 530 the commission under the direction of Tribonian, famous lawyer, was nominated. The commission has carried out grandiose compilation of fragments from works of the Roman lawyers of approximately five last centuries, published in December, 533, s.v. “Digests” (from Latin word “digesta” — “collected”), or “Pandects” (from the Greek word “pandectac” — “all containing”). Digests were the most volume part of Justinian’s code. They represented regular compilation of citations - fragments from works of the most known Roman lawyers. In total “Digests” composed of nearly 9200 from 2 thousand works belonging to a feather of 39 known lawyers of I-V centuries and in the majority of cases the composers cited certain enough instructions on the titles and even sections of the used works. It was a kind of encyclopedia of Roman law.
At promulgation of “Digests” emperor Justinian has even forbidden to write the comments to them: they represented the official legislative document not less than actually regulations of the laws; it was permitted only to make extractions and translation into Greek.
The Digests, as well as the Roman law in general, belong to those tops of the human thought, which even now, so now many years after their creation, strikes us by their grandiosity and serve for the good of mankind.
