ULPIANO, DOMIZIO. – Roman jurist of the 3rd century A.D., originally from Tyre in Phoenicia. Little is known about his life: from 205 to 211 he was, together with Paolo (v.), assessor to the praefectus praetorio Papiniano (v.).
Exiled by Elagabalus in 222, he was recalled shortly afterward by Alexander Severus; and, after holding the offices of magister libellorum and praefectus annonae, he attained, toward the end of that same year, the office of praefectus praetorio. The Emperor’s respectful benevolence did not suffice to protect him from the hatred of the Praetorians, by whom he was assassinated in 228.
U. was perhaps the most prolific of the Roman jurists. His major works concern private law. The 81 books ad edictum praetoris urbani constitute the most extensive commentary on the praetorian edict after that of Pomponius; the 50 books ad Sabinum are the most extensive exposition known of the ius civile. These commentaries are supplemented by 6 books on fideicommissa, 4 de appellationibus, 4 ad legem Aeliam Sentiam, 20 ad legem Iuliam et Papiam, and 5 ad legem Iuliam de adulteris. Another notable group of works deals instead with matters of public law: 10 books de officio proconsulis, 3 de officio consulis, 10 de omnibus tribunalibus, and other singulares books on the offices of various officials and magistrates.
In addition to several minor works, whose attribution is partly disputed, the Liber singularis regularum or Tituli ex corpore Ulpiani (cod. Vat. Reg. 1128) is attributed to U.; it is a collection, compiled in the post-classical period, of fragments from Ulpian’s works. Together with Paolo, U. was one of the authors most extensively used by the commission charged with compiling Justinian’s Digesta; and he is one of the jurists law of citations (v.).