Note 155 — XV THE HISTORY OF LEGAL DEVELOPMENT AT ROME AND IN ENGLAND

Within two centuries after Justinian’s time official abridgements of his Corpus Iuris began to be issued, and it was virtually superseded in the end of the ninth century by the Basilica of the Emperor Leo the Philosopher. The action of his successors was largely directed to cutting down the old law into a shape better fitted for the changed conditions of the Empire, and the declining intelligence of the people.