PAULO (Iulius Paulus). - Roman jurist of the 3rd century A.D., whose place of origin and dates of birth and death are unknown. Probably a pupil of Cervidius Scaevola and an assessor of Papinian (v.) when the latter was praefectus praetorio, he was magister memoriae, a member of the consilium principis and finally praefectus praetorio under Alexander Severus, probably together with Ulpian (v.).
Of this tireless writer, though not endowed with great originality, 317 books are known, either directly or through citation. Among these, particular mention should be made of 16 books ad Sabinum (a general treatment of the ius civile conducted using as a basis, in addition to those of Sabinus, the works of other jurists, especially Pomponius); 78 books ad edictum (a broad exposition of the ius honorarium to which are added the treatments relating to dowry, guardianship, manumissions, usucapion and possession); 25 books of quaestiones, 23 of responsa, 10 ad legem Iuliam et Papiam, besides a great number of small monographs or libri singulares and summaries from the works of earlier jurists (Alfenus Varus, Labeo, etc.).
To P. is also attributed a short work in five books, the Receptae sententiae (most of which is reproduced in the lex Romana Wisigothorum, while other passages are contained in the Digesta, in the Collatio legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum, in the Fragmenta Vaticana); in reality the Sententiae, a collection of maxims made to serve practice, were, according to the prevailing opinion, extracted from the works of P. by a scholar of the age of Diocletian. P. was, together with Ulpian, one of the writers most heavily exploited for the compilation of Justinian's Digesta
; and he is among the five jurists of the so-called "law of citations" (v.).
Bibliography5 works
Rodolfo Danieli