Humphries, Mark and Matthews, J. F. (2004) Laying Down the Law: A Study of the Theodosian Code. Classical Review, 54 (2). pp. 524-526.

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Abstract

At the outset of Laying Down the Law, John Matthews states that his book will attempt to provide ‘an understanding of the nature of the [Theodosian] Code and how it was produced’, and that it will be ‘about the Code itself and not about the Roman Empire portrayed in its pages’ (vii). The nervous reader might anticipate dry exegesis of legalistic minutiae, particularly when M. goes on to express the concern that this will be his ‘least “popular” book’ (xi). Neither M. nor the nervous reader should be concerned. Laying Down the Law is quintessentially a Matthewsian book, sharing many of the virtues and much of the style of his Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364-425 (1975) and The Roman Empire of Ammianus (1989)

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Theodosian Code
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Ancient Classics
Item ID:	360
Depositing User:	M Humphries
Date Deposited:	31 Aug 2006
Journal or Publication Title:	Classical Review
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ou...
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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