The "_Corpus Juris_," which is written in Latin, has never been
translated into any living tongue; yet it is the basis of law in
nearly all Europe and America. It was written by Tribonien,
Theophilus, Dorotheus, and John, and although called The Roman Law, is
in nothing Roman but the name. It is in four parts--Institutes,
Pandects or Digests, The Code, and The Novel Law. This celebrated book
is full of pedantry, and abounds in the most whimsical platitudes. For
example, in the chapter, "De patria potestate," 'The father loses his
authority over the son in many ways, firstly, when the father dies,
secondly, when the son dies,' &c. There is a Greek version of the
Institutes by Angelus Politianus.
{373}