Responsa: Difference between revisions

[[Roman law]] recognised {{lang|la|responsa prudentium}}, i.e., the responses and thoughts of [[jurists]], as one of the sources of {{lang|la|[[ius scriptum]]}} (written law), along with laws originating from [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]], from the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], or from the [[Roman emperor|emperor]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roman law {{!}} Influence, Importance, Principles, & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-law|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-21|website=www.britannica.com|language=en|quote=The chief forms of imperial legislation were edicts or proclamations; instructions to subordinates, especially provincial governors; written answers to officials or others who consulted the emperor; and decisions of the emperor sitting as a judge.<br>The last type of written law was the ''responsa prudentium'', or answers to legal questions given by learned lawyers to those who consulted them.}}</ref>

A particularly well-known and highly influential example of such ''responsa'' was the ''Digesta'' (or ''Digests''), in 90 books, the principal work of the prominent second century jurist [[Salvius Julianus]]. This was a systematic treatise on civil and [[praetor]]ian law, consisting of responsa on real and hypothetical cases, cited by many later Roman legal writers.<ref>"Salvius Iulianus" in Adolf Berger, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law'', American Philosophical Society, 1953, p. 552</ref>