UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION OF LAW IN THE LEGISLATION OF THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE OF THE VI–X с.

The main source of law throughout history of Byzantium was the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Code of Civil Law, compiled under the Emperor Justinian in the VI c. Although this document is traditionally regarded as the most important systematisation of classical Roman law, much of it relates to the realities of the eastern part of the Empire. Justinian gave different interpretations of what was meant by the word «law» in different parts of the code. Later, in the VIII and IX c., the Byzantine emperors, in numerous selections and extracts from the Corpus Juris Civilis, did not ask what law was, since their laws had practical purposes. Nevertheless, an analysis of Byzantine legislative acts shows that both Justinian and subsequent emperors distinguished between positive law and natural law. This is particularly clear in the Isagoge (Epanagoge) of the IX c. and is repeated in the last official codification carried out by Leo VI. Positive law was referred to in these documents by the term νόμος (law) and natural law by δικαιόσυνη (justice). And the main idea reflected in these documents is that the task of the legislator is to strive to bring positive law into harmony with natural law, since law = justice.