A third revised edition of Dr. Spyros N. Troianos’ work on the sources of Byzantine law has been published this year by Sakkoulas, the most prestigious law publisher in Greece: Οι Πηγές του Βυζαντινού Δικαίου (3d rev. ed. Athens: Sakkoulas, 2011), 492 pages.
Dr. Troianos is a notable legal historian, professor at the Law School of the University of Athens, and the editor of Forschungen zur Byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte Athener Reihe, which together with Forschungen zur Byzantinischen Rechtsgeschichte published by the Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtesgesichte, is the most important medium for publishing new historical research on Byzantine law.
This third revised edition of Sources of Byzantine Law seems primarily to have updated the bibliographical references since the second edition of 1999 to include newer studies on Byzantine law and new editions of legal documents. Consequently, it has the most up to date bibliography available.
The book has seven chapters. Ch. 1 is an introduction dealing with general matters, the origin of Byzantine law, the concept of legal sources, and research on the sources of Byzantine law. Ch. 2 deals with the early ecclesiastical sources of law (i.e., canons). Ch. 3 treats Emperor Justinian’s period. Ch. 4 deals with the successors of Justinian until the Macedonian dynasty. (Ch. 4.6 treats the origin of the Byzantine collections of canon law.) Ch. 5 treats the period from the Macedonians until the fall of Constantinople to the fourth crusade in 1204. (Ch. 5.7 deals with the canons of the Photian councils, the legislative activity of the resident synod in Constantinople, the Byzantine canonists, and the monastic typika.) Ch. 6 treats the period from 1204 until the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire. (Ch. 6.4 deals with the late Byzantine canonists, canonical collections, and canonical jurisprudence.) Ch. 7 deals with Byzantine law and its sources in the nineteenth century and in the beginning of the twentieth century.
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