Book XV
Concerning the law
De legis
Diocletian and Maximian, 31 March 292:
We order that the authentic, original laws signed by our own hand, not copies of them, shall be filed for record.
Diocletian and Maximian, 28 December 294:
Consent cannot be based on error. However, when anyone, in ignorance of the law, pays money, they cannot recover it. For money paid but not owing can be recovered only when paid in ignorance of the facts.
Valentinian II and Theodosius I, Vincentia, 27 May 391:
We permit no one to rely, actually or by pretence, on ignorance of the law.
Valentinian III and Marcian, Constantinople, 4 April 454:
The laws which bind the lives of all should be known by everyone, so that after clearer knowledge of the precepts of these laws all may omit doing acts which are forbidden and act freely in matters which are permitted. If some obscurity is, perchance, found in these laws, it should be clarified by imperial or parliamentary interpretation.
Leo I, 27 March 470:
It shall be lawful to bring forward in any court and consider as imperially sanctioned law only that which is subscribed on paper, papyrus or parchment, and featuring our signature.