README.md

Relational database of Justinian's Digest in SQLite

The Digest is the definitive Roman law compendium compiled under emperor Justinian I (533 CE). The text is arranged in 50 books, 432 thematic sections, 9132 quoted passages and 21055 text units. This relational database presents the Digest in interlinked data tables chained together by unique keys. The digest.db database can be used for generating advanced analytical insights about Roman law as represented by the Digest and for searching text and associated data in a staructured and efficient manner.

0. Table of contents

1. Instructions for using digest.db

2. Tables of the database

3. Sample SQL queries

4. Future steps

5. Support for users

6. Acknowledgement

7. Footnotes

1. Instructions for using digest.db

Back to Table of contents

The database can be queried with SQL statements in four types of SQLite interfaces listed below. All of these interfaces are free of charge. They all support exporting the result of SQL queries in a csv flat file to be opened in a notebook, text or spreadsheet editor.

1.1 Online application - SQLite online

Having downloaded the digest.db file to your computer, it can be opened and queried in a web browser on sqliteonline.com.

1.2 Graphical user interface (GUI) - DB Browser for SQLite

The GUI interface of DB Browser supports functionalities such as colour-coding data types and linking additional databases. It enjoys from an active and reponsive community of developers. The application's window structure helps to formulate SQL queries. Instructions for installation and use can be accessed on sqlitebrowser.org.

1.3 Command line interface (CLI) - sqlite3

The CLI interface is most suitable for quick reference queries and mass data manipulation. Instructions for installation can be accessed on sqlite.org.

1.4 Python slite3 package

The database can be connected directly in a Python script with the sqlite3 package. Rather than performing standard queries, this interface is most suitable for those who wish to perform additional machine-assisted analyis.

Alternatively, one may export tables and results of SQL statements as csv flat files which could be loaded as pandas dataframes into a Python code for further processing.

2. Tables of the database

Back to Table of contents

2.1 text

The core "text" table includes the 21,055 text units with foreign keys which chain text units in many-to-one relationships to supplementary information stored in other tables. The text is pulled from the Amanuensis software¹ incorporating the the text from the ROMTEXT database.² The text itself is from Theodor Mommsen's printed edition of the Digest.³ The numbering by books, sections, passages and text units follows the schoalrly convention. In Mommsen, if a passage includes multiple sentences (here denoted as "text units"), the first one is marked by "r.", the second by "1" and so on. This zero numbering is reflected in the database with "0" replacing Mommsen's "r."

2.2 jurist

The "jurist" table lists the 37 jurists quoted in the Digest with estimated dates for their "birth", their most active "date" and their "death". The dates are based on the articles written on the individual jurists in the Paulys Realenzylkopädie⁴ and Adolf Berger's Dictionary of Roman law.⁵ Dates were calculated on the assumption that jurists lived a maximum life expectancy of 60 years and they were the most active at the age of 40. These assumptions are based on the studies by Bruce Frier⁶ and Walter Scheidel.⁷

2.3 book

The "book" table lists the 1381 individual books from which text units are quoted. The shorthand referemce in the "ref" column follows the format of inscriptions attached to text units in ROMTEXT.

2.4 work

The "work" table aggregate books which constitute one larger multi-volume work. There are 250 works quoted in the Digest.

2.5 section

The "section" table includes the titles of the Digest's 432 thematic sections with the id number of the text unit with which the section starts in the "text" table.

2.6 bko

The "bko" table presents information related to the theory about the Digest's compositional structure formulated by Friedrich Bluhme in 1820⁸and revised by Paul Krüger for Theodor Mommsen's edition of the Digest. The theory was accompanied by a tabular summary known as the Bluhme-Krüger Ordo (hence "bko") which was revised and expanded by Tony Honoré.⁹

3. Sample SQL queries

Back to Table of contents

There are some sample queries in the SQL_queries.txt file to assist users unfamiliar with the SQL query language. These queries are ready to be copy-pasted as a multi-line SQL statement into the interface of your choice. The queries can be customised by replacing the relevant values. Names of tables and their columns are fixed, but all other values can be customised. Please play around and send a message for support.

3.1 Example analytical query

-- #2 COUNT THE NUMBER OF TEXT UNITS FOR EACH JURISTS SORTED BY THEIR ERAS
SELECT j.name, j.date,
	COUNT(t.jurist_id) as number_of_textunits,
	CASE
		WHEN j.date < 0 THEN 'E'
		WHEN j.date < 190 THEN 'C-'
		WHEN j.date < 240 THEN 'C+'
		ELSE 'P'
	END AS era
FROM text as t
LEFT JOIN jurist as j
ON t.jurist_id=j.id
GROUP BY t.jurist_id
ORDER BY j.date;

This query sorts the jurists of the Digest into so-called eras: "early and pre-classical" ('E'), "early classical" ('C-'), "late classical" ('C+'), and "post-classical" ('P'). The date column in the jurist table includes the date when the jurist was most active. For the purpose of this periodisation, the query takes the year 0, the year 190 and the year 240 as the boundaries of the eras. Additionally, the query counts the number of text units authored by a partcular jurists by linking the jurist and the text table on a common key (jurist_id). The output is ordered by date where jurists, their eras and the number of text units they have in the Digest are listed in SQL table ready to be exported.

The user may define different boundaries, or name the eras differently by replacing the numeric values and the encoding of eras stated in single quotation marks. Less or more eras can be defined by removing a WHEN line or adding more to the query as appropriate.

3.2 Example search and filter query

-- #4 WHERE DOES PAPINIAN (id=23) USES THE TERM "PROPRIETAS"?
SELECT t.id, j.id, t.text
FROM text AS t
LEFT JOIN jurist AS j
ON t.jurist_id = j.id
WHERE (t.text like '%proprieta%') AND (j.id = 23);

This query counts retruns text units in the "text" table authored by Papinian where the term "proprietas" or its morphological variation is used. The query joins the "text" table to the "jurist" table by the "jurist_id" foreign key in the "text" table matching the "id" in the "jurist" table. Papinian's "id" is "23" which is used as a filtering value in the WHERE clause. The other filtering value makes use of the % wildcard supported by SQLite which replaces zero or more optional characters. Hence, the query with t.text like '%proprieta%' in the WHERE clause returns text units where "proprieta-" appears in any of its morphological variations.

A slight modification of the query in the statement's SELECT clause enables to count the occurences automatically.

-- #5 HOW MANY TIMES DOES PAPINIAN (id=23) USES THE TERM "PROPRIETAS"?
SELECT COUNT(t.id)
FROM text AS t
LEFT JOIN jurist AS j
ON t.jurist_id = j.id
WHERE (t.text like '%proprieta%') AND (j.id = 23);

4. Future steps

Back to Table of contents

The current version of digest.db is intended to be polished with input from its users. While major flaws and inconsistencies in the data were captured during the pre-processing stage, it is expected that typographical errors and some inconsistencies remain. Please leave a comment or send an email, if you spot an error. A reporting tool or a collaborative editing method will de added in due course.

The database is also intended to be enriched with additional features in its tables and additional tables including new perspectives about the textual data. One possible expansion is a high-level taxonomy of legal concepts projected onto the textual units and thematic sections which will assist topical research of Roman law.

Currently there is no custom-made GUI for using digest.db. As the project and the database matures, an appropriate user-friendly interface and visualisation tool will be created to open up the database to those less familiar with the SQL query language.

5. Support for users

Back to Table of contents

5.1 Feedback and collaborative development

Please leave a comment or send an email with any feedback you may have about the database. Features, tables and functionalities will be added to the database with input from users.

In time, the database will receive a custom interface which builds on top the SQLite database and the SQL queries. The interface will be designed according to user feedback. Please let me know what you want to see in future releases and how the database could support your research better.

5.2 Support for SQL queries

Please leave a comment or send an email, if you would like to request a sample SQL query for your research, or if you need help with adjusting one of the existing queries. These queries will be continuously added to the SQL_queries.txt file.

6. Acknowledgement

Back to Table of contents

The raw text data was pulled from the graphical interface of the Amanuensis v4.0 software developed by Peter Riedlberger and Günther Rosenbaum. Amanuensis incorporates the ROMTEXT database created by the University of Linz under the supervision of Josef Menner. Barbara McGillivray offered advice during the database creation process.

The research is carried out at the University of Surrey School of Law as part of an Early Career Research Fellowship funded by The Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2019-418).

7. Footnotes

Back to Table of contents

1. Peter Riedlberger and Günther Rosenbaum, eds. (2020): Amanuensis V5.0. München. URL: http://www.riedlberger.de/08amanuensis.html [Last accessed on 19 May 2020] ↩

2. Georg Klingenberg, "Die ROMTEXT-Datenbank," Informatica e diritto 4 (1995): 223-232. ↩

3. Theodor Mommsen and Paul Krüger, Corpus Iuris Civlis. Editio stereotypa quinta. Vol 1: Institutiones. Digesta. Berlin: Weidmann, 1889. ↩

4. Georg Wissowa, Wilhelm Kroll, Karl Mittelhaus, Konrat Ziegler and Hans Gärtner, eds.,Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: Neue Bearbeitung. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1893-1980. ↩

5. Adolf Berger, "Encyclopedic dictionary of Roman law," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 43 (1953): 333-809. ↩

6. Bruce Frier, "Roman life expectancy: Ulpian's evidence," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 86 (1982): 213-251. ↩

7. Walter Scheidel, "Roman age structure: Evidence and models," The Journal of Roman Studies 91 (2001): 1-26. ↩

8. Friedrich Bluhme, "Die Ordnung der Fragmente in den Pandectentiteln: Ein Beitrag der Entstehungsgeschichte der Pandecten," Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte 4 (1820): 257-472. ↩

9. Tony Honoré, "Justinian's Digest: The distribution of authors and works to the three committees," Roman Legal Tradition 3 (2006): 1-47. ↩