A Study Of The Rhodian Sea-Law

The Rhodian Sea-Law was formed in the 8th century A.D., whose name come from the Rhode Island in southeastern Mediterranean, and resulting in the Byzantine Empire under the broader context of the increasingly frequent trade in the Mediterranean. As a written code of law, it covers maritime loans, ship collision, general average, salvage and other maritime law systems. It is extremely valuable first-hand information in the studying of Byzantine history and the history of the world's maritime law .The production of The Rhodian Sea-Law was not accidental, which developed from the inheritance of ancient maritime law civilization. Maritime law has a very long history.In about the Twentieth Century BC, the" Sumer Code" and other legal documents already had the seeds of maritime law. "Code of Hammurabi" had 10 related to maritime law terms, covering merchant rent, boatman responsibility, the responsibility of the two ships colliding and so on, be called the most comprehensive maritime law at that time of the world. While in the region of ancient Egypt and the Phoenician, maritime law code has not been found, but the shipbuilding and maritime industry were so developed that we believe the existence of maritime rules. It is said that the maritime law of Rhode Island resulted from maritime law of the Phoenician, we are looking forward to the results of new archaeological discoveries that can give a strong proof of this. As early as ancient Greece, the Rhode Island had been a trade center around the eastern Mediterranean. The business people of various ethnic groups and regions liked to settle disputes about sea trade on the Rhode Island. After a some time, a unique maritime legal culture formed gradually on Rhode Island. At the time, people of Rhode Island were masters of the seas and had a strong maritime fleet and strict organizational discipline. They promptly summed up average customary rules that occurred frequently in maritime trade, thus forming "Lex Rhodia" of the 3rd century BC. "Lex Rhodia" had a great authority in the Mediterranean region and used to adjust the region's maritime trade for a fairly long period of time. But the text of "Lex Rhodia" had not preserved, the contents of which are only scattered in writings of the ancient Roman jurists. From this point on, although the Romans had no original contribution to the Maritime, it relevant records about "Lex Rhodia" in the writings of ancient Roman jurists which obviously influenced the growth of maritime law.Early Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered the doctrine and legal answers of eminent ancient Roman jurists to be summarized and ordered, then compiled into "Digesta" in 533 years, a collection of jurists on the "maritime-related activities" and the "On 'Law Rhode disposable goods'". It was the need of policy to rule Mediterranean by Justinian, and it was the inevitable result of development of the Mediterranean trade.Since the 7th century, the expansion of the war that the Arabs fought over hegemony in the Mediterranean did not affect the the commercial economy of the Byzantine Empire to a great extent. With efforts of the Herakleios dynasty and the Isaurian dynasty, the Byzantine Empire formed a busy commercial shipping system, maritime trade which was very active, and Constantinople became the world's business transshipment port. Frequent Byzantine sea trade not only promoted the economic development business, but also the progress of the Byzantine legal culture. Businessman of Byzantine and Eastern Mediterranean had gradually formed a habit of relatively fixed business practices in maritime trade practice. It was imperative to sort out these trade practices and to compile a code for people to comply with when navigating and doing business. It was in this macro-Background that the Rhodian Sea-Law emerged. The Rhodian Sea-Law was the result of sustained accumulation of navigation habits and trade experiences in the Mediterranean for centuries, whose nature was compilation of customary law.As far as that time is concerned, the content of the Rhodian Sea-Law could be described as very comprehensive, like the provisions on the ship, cargo, the involvement of the tenancy, the price of shipping, payment of freight, obligations of ship's seaworthiness, storage of goods on board, the loss of ship and cargo, etc. The provisions on participants of maritime trade, involved the crew and their salaries, the rights and obligations of the crew, the rights and obligations of passengers, theft and robbery that happened on board or in a port, pirates and fighting, etc.; In addition to these basic provisions, The Rhodian Sea-Law also established or reaffirmed a number of typical maritime law systems, such as maritime partners and loans, ship collision and salvage, general average and the percentage share and so on.The Rhodian Sea-Law had played an important role in the trading activities of the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Mediterranean. Its appearance terminated the situation that there was no law to observe for the maritime trade of the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Mediterranean. The activities of maritime trade had a greater security. The Rhodian Sea-Law was usually attached to the famous Code "Ecloga" ,and used widely as measures for business reform of the Byzantine Empire ,whose many important provisions had been absorbed into the Macedonian Dynasty "Imperial Code". During this time the Arab absorbed and reformed the Byzantine culture in the absorption and transformation process, they developed their own maritime laws according to The Rhodian Sea-Law, which were used widely in the years 800-1050 AD in the western Mediterranean region. More than this, many famous maritime codes later than the Rhodian Sea-Law, such as "Amalphitan Table", "The Rules of Oleron","The Consulate of the Sea", "Rules of Wisby" and "The Laws of the Hanse Towns", were influenced heavily by The Rhodian Sea-Law for a few centuries. Comparing the contents of the Laws, we find that many institutional provisions such as the procedure of abandoning cargo from the ship, general average and so on, even copied from The Rhodian Sea-Law. The provisions were expressed in different code only under the same system of maritime law or improved to a certain degree. The Rhodian Sea-Law also had a direct indirect effect to the medieval legal tradition, which reflected in Commenda, Court of Piepowder, law merchant and other fields.In short, the Rhodian Sea-Law inherited maritime law of ancient Mesopotamia and Greece which had developed civilizations, furthermore, it made an important inheritance and development of Maritime Law in the Justinian's "Digesta", then the Rhodian Sea-Law enlightened famous Maritime Code of middle ages including "Amalphitan Table"and"The Consulate of the Sea" and so on. The Rhodian Sea-Law made important contributions in preserving and developing the ancient maritime law civilization, which laid the foundation for later maritime legislation. The system of maritime law what the Rhodian Sea-Law had established or reaffirmed, such as ship collision, general average and other aspects of the system, whose impact last from the Middle Ages until now. Thus, the Rhodian Sea-Law has important historical position of inheriting fine tradition and ushering in the future mission, which is indispensable and important part of history of the world's maritime law.