PRÓCHIRO. - An Eastern compilation, consisting of a proem and forty titles, probably promulgated in 879, during the reign of Basilio I, Costantino, and Leone. It takes its name from what is the most frequent designation in the manuscripts (ὁ πρόχειρος νόμος); but it is also known as διάταξις τῶν τριῶν βασιλέων or as ἐγχειρίδιος νόμος.
The material of which it is composed is drawn mainly from the Justinian Institutiones and Novellus, while passages deriving from the Digesta and the Codex are few. The P. was widely used, even in ecclesiastical tribunals, and was adopted by Costantino Armenopulo as the basis for his Manuale. It was edited by Zachariae von Lingenthal (Heidelberg 1837); noteworthy, also for the introduction prefixed to it, is the English translation by E. H. Freshfield (A Manual of eastern Roman Law, Cambridge 1928).