COLLATIO LEGUM MOSAICARUM ET ROMANARUM. — An anonymous pamphlet which compares, under 16 headings, articles from the Old Testament—especially those dealing with penal matters—with similar provisions of Roman law, and concludes that the Mosaic laws take precedence and that Roman law is dependent upon them.
It is a bold application, in the field of law, of the method already widely used by the apologists with regard to moral and philosophical doctrines. It is uncertain whether it was compiled in the early years of the 4th century or between the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th. Attempts have been made to identify its author as Jerome, Ambrose, Rufinus, or the Jew Isaac, but without plausible evidence. Perhaps the work has not come down to us in its entirety. The title in the manuscripts is Lex Dei, the current title having been given by editors.
It was discovered in the 16th century and first published by Pithou, then by various others, including Th. Mommsen, in Collectio librorum iuris anteiustiniani, III, Berlin 1890, pp. 136 ff.
Antonio Ferrúa