Eusta'thius Roma'nus
1. A celebrated Graeco-Roman jurist.
Of the noble family of the Maleini, he was honoured with the rank of Patricius, and filled various high offices at Constantinople.
He was first a puisne judge (
λιτὸς κριτής) under Romanus junior (
Basil. vii. p. 677, schol.), and continued to fill the same office under Nicephorus Phocas (reigned A. D. 963-969), then was made Quaestor, and was afterwards made Magister Officiorum under Basileius Bulgaroctonus (reigned 975-1025). Basileius Porphyrogenitus, in a novell inserted in the collection of Leunclavius (
J. G. R. ii. p. 173), speaks of the uninterrupted prosperity of his family for 100 or 120 years. (Zachariae,
Hist. Jur. Gr. Rom. Delin. p. 58; Heimbach,
de Basil. Orig. p.79.)
Works
He is quoted by the four appellations, Eustathius, Patricius, Romanus, and Magister.
Harmenopulus, in the Prolegomena to his Hexabiblon (§ 20), mentions his obligations to the
Romaica, of Magister, who was evidently a judge as well as an interpreter of law, for Harmenopulus frequently cites his decisions and decrees: Harmenopulus also several times cites Patricius, and, wherever such a citation occurs, there is always a marginal reference in manuscripts to the
Biblion Romaicum, which appears to be the same as the
Romaica of Magister. In Harmenopulus (4. tit. 12.10), is a passage cited from Patricius, with a marginal reference to the
Biblion Romaicum, and the same passage is attributed in a scholium on the
Basilica (60. tit. 37, vol. vii. p. 678) to Romanus.
This work of Magister was divided into titles, and the titles
Περὶ Γυναικῶν,
Περὶ Κληρονομίας and
Περὶ Διαθηκῶν, are cited in the
Hexabiblon (5. tit. 9. §§ 11, 12, 13). Mortreuil (
Histoire du Droit Byzantin, ii. p. 503, Paris, 1844,) identifies the
Biblion Romaicum with the
Practica of Eustathius.
The
Σημειώματα, or observations of Magister, are also mentioned in the
Hexabiblon (3, tit. 3. 111).
Sometimes, when Magister is cited in Harmenopulus, there is a marginal reference to the
Μικρον κατα Στοιχεῖον, and in
Basil. vii. p. 22, mention is made of the
Στοιχεῖον τοῦ Μαΐστορος; but the work which now exists in manuscript, and passes under the name of the
Μικρὸν κατὰ Στοιχεῖον, or
Synopsis Minor, has been usually attributed to Docinmus, or Docimius, and is of a later date than Eustathius. (Reiz.
Index Nom. Prop. in Harmenop. s. vv. Masister; Patricius,
Μικρὸν, in
Meerman. Thes. Suppl. pp. 389-400; Zachariae,
Hist. Jur. Gr. Rom. Delin. § 47.)
The names of Eustathius and Romanus occur several times in the Scholia on the Basilica, e. g.
Basil. iv. p. 489, iii. p. 340. 56. 480, 7.678. 694. The
Ὑπόμνημα of Eustathius is cited
Basil. iii. p. 116.
It is a tract of the date A. D. 1025,
de Duobus Consobrinis qui Duas Consobrinas duxerant.
Editions
It is printed in the collection of Leunclavius (
J. G. R. i. p. 414).
Heimbach (
Anecdota, i. p. lxvi.) mentions a manuscript in the Vatican at Rome (cod. 226, fol. 294-300) under the title
Υ῾πόμνημα Εὐσταθίου περὶ Βίου (sic)
τοῦ Ῥωμαίου. He supposes that the title ought to be read
Ὑπόμνημα περὶ βίου Εὐσταθίου τοῦ Ῥωμαίου.
In the last-cited passage, the Scholium gives an extract from the
Practica, and mentions Patricius as the author. Eustathius is here to be understood, and not, as Heimbach and Fabricius supposed, the earlier Patricius Heros. The
Πεῖρα, or
Practica, of Eustathins is cited in the Scholia,
Basil. vii. p. 516. 676-7. The
Practica is a work written not by Eustathius himself, but by some judge or assessor of the judgment-seat.
It conists of 75 titles, under which are contained extracts from proceedings in causes tried at Constantinople, and determined by various judges, espacially by Roimanus. Most of these causes were heard in the Hippodromus. a name of a court paralleled by our English
Cockpit. Πεῖρα (which appears better to deserve publication than some of those remains of Graeco,-Roman Jurisprudence which have been lately given to the world by Heimbach and Zachariae) exists in manuscript in the Medicean Library at Florence (Cod. Laurent. lxxx. fol. 478, &c.), with the title
Βιβλίον, ὅπερ παρὰ μέν τινων ονομάζετα; Πε̂ρα, παρα δέ τινων Διδασκαλια ἐκ τῶν πράξεων τοῦ μεγάλου κυροῦ Εὐσταθίου του Ρωμαίου. (Zachariae,
Hist. Jur Gr. Rom. Delin. § 41.)
Another unpublished work of Eustathius is his treatise
Περὶ Υ῾ποβόλου, which is in manuscript at Paris.
The meaning of the word
ὑποβόλου has been a subject of much dispute. (Du Cange
Gloss. Med. et Inf. Graec. s. v.) It seems ordinarily to mean that to which the wife is entitled by agreement or particular custom upon the deatll of her husband, over and above the dowry she brought him.
2. To Eustathius Romanus has been falsely ascribed a work concerning prescription and the legal effect of periods of time from a moment to a hundred years.
Attributed to other authors
The work is commonly attributed to Eustathius, Antecessor Constantinopolitanus. If this inscription be correct, the Professor must have been of earlier date than Eustathius Romanus, for the treatise
De Temporum Intervallis appears to have been originally compiled in the seventh century.
Editions
This work was published with a Latin version by Schardius (Basil. 1561), and
immediately afterwards in Greek only by Cujas, along with his own treatise on the same subject.
It has since been often reprinted under various names. It may be found in the collection of Leunclavius (ii. p. 297) with the title De Temporum Intervallis, with Scholia of Athanasius and others.
The last edition is that by Zachariae. (
Αἱ Ῥοπαί,
oder die Schrift über, die Zeitabschnitte, 8vo. Heid. 1836.)
Eleventh century revisions
The edition of Schardius gives the work nearly in its original form; Cujas, Leunclavius, and Zachariae present us with a second edition of the same work as revised about the eleventh century by some editor, who has added scholia of his own, and introduced references to the Basilica. (Biener,
Gesch. der Novellen, p. 124.)
Nessel (cited by Sammet.
Diss. de Hypobolo in
Meerm. Thus. Suppl. p. 382) attributes, not to Eustathius Romanus, but to the earlier professor Eustathius, a synopsis of juridical actions, entitled
Αἱ ἀγωγαὶ ἐν συνόψει, which is found appended in manuscript to the
Procheiron auctum.
Further Information
Zachariae,
Hist. Jur. Gr. Rom. Delin. § 48; Heimbach,
de Basil. Orig. p. 144.
3. Edict of Eustathius
An Edict of the Eustathius who was Pr. Pr. Orientis under Anastasius in A. D. 506, is published by Zachariae (
Anecdota, p. 270).
[
J.T.G]
