Constitutiones
A Dictionary of Law · Henry Campbell Black · 1891
A Dictionary of Law
Laws promulgated, i. e., enacted, by the Roman Emperor. They were of various kinds, namely, the following: (1) edicta; (2) decreta; (3) rescripta, called also "epistolae." Sometimes they were general, and intended to form a precedent for other like cases; at other times they were special, particular, or individual, (personales,) and not intended to form a precedent. The emperor had this power of irresponsible enactment by virtue of a certain lex regia, whereby he was made the fountain of justice and of mercy.
Brown.