ECLOGA ISAURICA ("Εκλογή τῶν νόμων"). A compilation, executed primarily with material drawn from the four Corpus iuris civilis (v.), at the order of Emperor LEO III the Isaurian and his son CONSTANTINE V Copronymus, promulgated in 739–740.
It is divided into 18 titles or books and deals almost exclusively with matters of civil law; it was intended essentially for judicial practice. In the Ecloga, profound modifications were introduced, especially in the matter of family law and marriage, compared to the discipline then in force; for example, in accordance with a decision of the Third Council of Constantinople (Quinisext), marriage with another’s betrothed is considered adultery; moreover, marriage between Catholics and heretics is forbidden (decision of the Council of Laodicea). Although subsequently repudiated—because it was the work of iconoclastic emperors—the Ecloga was widely used in practice and served as the basis for other compilations, such as the *Ecloga privata*, the *Ecloga privata aucta*, and the *Ecloga ad Prochiron mutata*; the last two are of great importance for the history of Italian law, since they were composed in the 12th century in southern Italy during the Norman domination.
The editio princeps of the Ecloga is that of ZACHARIAE VON LINGENTHAL in the *Collectio librorum iuris Graeco-romani ineditorum* (Leipzig 1852, pp. 9–52); the most recent reprint, with a French translation, is that of C. A. Spulber.
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