Julius Paulus (Greek:Ἰούλιος Παῦλος; fl. 2nd century and 3rd century AD), often simply referred to asPaul in English, was one of the most influential and distinguishedRoman jurists. He was also apraetorian prefect under theRoman EmperorAlexander Severus.
Little is known of the life and family of Paulus; he was a man ofGreek descent[citation needed], who originated from an unknownPhoenician town inRoman Syria or from Patavium,Roman Italy (modernPadua,Italy). The possibility that Paulus could come from Patavium is based on a statue with an inscription found in Patavium dedicated to a Paulus.[citation needed]
During the reign of emperorsSeptimius Severus andCaracalla, Paulus served as a jurist. He was exiled by the emperorElagabalus and recalled from exile by his successor, emperorAlexander Severus. Severus and his motherJulia Avita Mamaea in 222, appointed him among the emperor's chief advisers and between 228 and 235, he was the Praetorian prefect of thePraetorian Guard. Paulus was a contemporary of the juristUlpian. He partly followed the career path of former Praetorian prefectAemilius Papinianus. In aconstitution of the emperorGordian III dating from 239 and referring to the marriage, where is cited aresponse of Paul, he is calledvir prudentissimus Paulus (C.J. 5.4.6).[1]
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The Roman juristHerennius Modestinus describes Paulus, along with Ulpian andQuintus Cervidius Scaevola, as among "the last of the great jurists". Paulus’ work was held in high respect.
He had written 319 various legal publications. His surviving works are extremely prolific, displaying a keen analysis of other opinions of jurists and Paulus expressed his legal views. He appears to have written on a great variety on legal subjects and had a thorough knowledge of legal subjects and law.
Paulus comments on the juristsJavolenus Priscus,Quintus Cervidius Scaevola,Marcus Antistius Labeo,Salvius Julianus andAemilius Papinianus. He is cited by the juristsMacer[citation needed] and Herennius Modestinus. His writing style is condensed and sometimes obscure; however, his work is just as good as the other Roman jurists. Paulus’ work has survived from excerpts, although his work needs to be carefully read to be understood.
Paulus was one of the five jurists whose opinions were made constitutionally authoritative in 426 byRoman EmperorsTheodosius II andValentinian III. Another legacy from Paulus is the inclusion of his writings in theDigest which was written and put together byByzantine EmperorJustinian I.
One sixth of theCorpus Juris Civilis in theDigest consists of Paulus’ work. He is the most excerpted Roman jurist in theDigest, ahead ofUlpian. TheDigest attributes to Paulus the first articulation of thepresumption of innocence in Roman law:Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat[2]—"Proof lies on him who asserts, not on him who denies".[3] Paulus in theDigest is also referred in two passages, which he gave a contrary opinion to Alexander Severus, but Severus chose Papinianus‘ opinion.
Due to his fame, several other works have been attributed to him, in particular the 3rd century compilationPauli sententiae ("Paul's Views" or "Sentences").[4]From Paulus’ surviving works and works attributed to him, theSententiae ad Filium have the longest fragments.[5]
In theDigest, Paulus wrote a passage onmoney. Paulus presented a theory of money, similar toAristotle, similar to the still sometimes abiding theory that it had arisen from the inconvenience of barter (i.e. with a presumption of an initial in-kind or "barter" exchange economy preceding money) due to the "lack ofcoincidence of wants" in neoclassical terminology.[6]
