 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ulpian" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Ulpian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 170 AD Tyre, Roman Syria |
| Died | 228 AD (aged 57–58) |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Occupation | Jurist |
| Known for | Digest (Roman law) |
Ulpian (/ˈʌlpiən/;Latin:Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus;c. 170 – 223 or 228) was aRomanjurist born inTyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon).[1][2] He moved to Rome and rose to become considered one of the great legal authorities of his time. He was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to be based according to theLaw of Citations ofValentinian III,[3] and supplied theJustinianDigest about a third of its contents.[4]
The exact time and place of his birth are unknown. He was most literarily active between AD 211 and 222. He made his first appearance in public life as assessor in the auditorium ofPapinian and member of the council ofSeptimius Severus; underCaracalla he was master of the requests (magister libellorum).Elagabalus (also known as Heliogabalus) banished him fromRome, but on the accession ofSeverus Alexander (222) he was reinstated, and finally became the emperor's chief adviser andPraefectus Praetorio.
During theSeveran dynasty, the position ofPraetorian prefect inItaly came increasingly to resemble a general administrative post, and there was a tendency to appoint jurists such as Papinian, who occupied the post from 203 until his elimination and execution at the ascent of Caracalla. UnderSeverus Alexander thePraetorian prefecture was held by Ulpian until his assassination by theGuard in the presence of the Emperor himself.
His curtailment of the privileges granted to thePraetorian Guard byElagabalus provoked their enmity, and he narrowly escaped their vengeance; ultimately, he was murdered in the palace by the Guard, possibly in the course of a riot between the soldiers and the mob.[4]
He had a luxurious villa atSanta Marinella on the coast north of Rome.
His works includeAd Sabinum, a commentary on theius civile, in over 50 books;Ad edictum, a commentary on theEdict, in 83 books; collections of opinions, responses and disputations; books of rules and institutions; treatises on the functions of the different magistrates — one of them, theDe officio proconsulis libri x., being a comprehensive exposition of the criminal law; monographs on various statutes, on testamentary trusts, and a variety of other works. His writings altogether have supplied toJustinian'sDigest about a third of its contents, and his commentary on theEdict alone about a fifth. As an author, he is characterized by doctrinal exposition of a high order, judiciousness of criticism, and lucidity of arrangement, style, and language.[4] He is also credited withthe firstlife table ever.[5]
Domitii Ulpiani fragmenta, consisting of 29 titles, were first edited by Tilius (Paris, 1549). Other editions are byHugo (Berlin, 1834), Booking (Bonn, 1836), containing fragments of the first book of theInstitutiones discovered by Endlicher at Vienna in 1835, and in Girard'sTextes de droit romain (Paris, 1890).[4]
In the study of law, Ulpian may be best remembered for the phrase "Juris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere (The basic principles of law are: to live honorably, not to harm any other person, to render each his own)".[6]
It had been assumed for a long time[by whom?] that Ulpian of Tyre was a model forAthenaeus' Ulpian inThe Deipnosophists — orThe Banquet of the Learned. Athenaeus makes 'Ulpian' out to be a grammarian and philologist, characterised by his customary interjections: "Where does this word occur in writing?". He is represented as asymposiarch and he occupies a couch alone; his death is passed over in silence in Book XV 686c. Scholars today[who?] agree thatAthenaeus's Ulpian is not the historical Ulpian, but possibly his father.
A potential date of the real Ulpian's death, 228 AD, has been wrongly used to estimate the date of completion ofThe Deipnosophists. However the year of his death cannot be determined with certainty. Robert Lee Cleve makes a compelling case that Ulpian died in 223, citing a papyrus discovered in 1966.[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ulpian".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 567.
