Institutes

The principles or first elements of jurisprudence. Many books have borne the title of Institutes. Among the most celebrated in the common law, are the Institutes of Lord Coke, which, however, on account of the want of} arrangement and the diffusion with which his books are* written, bear but little the character of Institutes; in the civil law those most generally known are those of Caius, Justinian, and Theophilus. 7 The Institutes of Caius are an abridgment of the Roman law, composed by the celebrated Jawyer Caius or Gaius, who lived during the reign of Marcus ‘Aurelius. The Institutes of Justinian are an abridgment of the Code and of the Digest, composed by order of that emperor: his intention in this composition was to give a summary knowledge of the law to those persons not versed in it, and. particularly to merchants.. The lawyers employed to make this book were Tribonian, Theophilus and Dorotheus. The work was first published in the year 533, and received the sanction of statute law by order of the emperor. The Institutes of Justinian are divided in four books: each book is divided into titles, and each title into parts. The first part is called principium, because it is the commencement of the title; thos which follow are numbered and called paragraphs. The work treats of the rights of persons, of things, and of actions. The first book treats o! persons; the second, third, and the first five titles of the fourth book, of things; and the remainder of the fourth book, of actions. This work has been much admired on account of its order and scientific arrange: ment, which presents at a single glance the whole jurisprudence o the Romans. This work is too lit tle known and sstudied. Judge Cooper has published an edition with valuable notes. The Institutes of Theophilus are a paraphrase of those of Justia, composed in Greek by a lawyer of that name, by order of the emperr Phocas.

Vide 1 Kent, Com. 538; Profession d’Avocat, tom. 1], & 536, page 95; Introd. a "Etude du Droit Romain, p. 124; Dict. te Jurisp. h. t.; Merl. Répert. bt; Encyclopédie de d’Alembert, b. t.