A Textual Analysis On The Ecclesiastical Law Of The Ancient Roman Empire In The Post-classical Period

The achievements of the ancient Roman Empire in the field of private law have been widely concerned by Chinese and foreign scholars,but the Church,who played an important role in the history of the ancient Roman Empire,has not been regarded seriously.The ecclesiastical law is the most direct tool which contact the state and religion,and which can intuitively reflect the country's religious policy.The Code of Theodosius is the first officially edited code in the world.The research value of the original documentary material cannot be ignored.Limited by the limitations of the original and historical conditions of legislative technology,the 16 th volume and even the entire code did not reach the level of perfection of the Eustatius Code.However,the "Justinian Code" only retained 50 fragments of the 16 th volume,but advanced the religious law from the position of the last volume of the Code to the first place.And the 16 th volume of Theodosius Code basically covers the civil,criminal,administrative,and litigation fields.It can be said to be a combination of substantive law and procedural law,and a typical representative of the combination of laws.Therefore,although the "Theodosius Code" was promulgated 1600 years ago,the legal wisdom and the social changes embodied in it are very worthy of study.This paper is divided into four parts to sort out the relationship between the state and religion in the late period of the ancient Roman Empire embodied in the 16 th volume of Theodosius Code.First of all,the 16 th volume of the overall structure of the study,analyze the proportion,main content and role of each chapter in the overall structure of the 16 th volume,and analyze the first chapter of the full text and the eleventh chapter of the full text This outlines the religious attitude of the state that “supports Christianity and supplements with side pressure”.Secondly,the remaining chapters of the 16 th volume are classified into three aspects: the civil private law system,the administrative official system and the judicial trial system.The religious policies of this period are explored.The second chapter of this paper corresponds to the private law system in the civil field.From the three aspects of personal rights and obligations,church rights and obligations,and religious property and activities,it shows the civil private law system of the ancient Roman Empire in terms of religious affairs.The third chapter of this thesis mainly discusses the defamation of administrative and judicial trials,and analyzes the two main lines of supervision of the administrative field and intervention in the judicial field along the empire,reflecting the religious affairs of the ancient Roman Empire in the post-classical period.There is a choice of laissez-faire and control attitude policies.Finally,the value and influence of religious policy in this period are analyzed.The most intuitive influence of religious policy in this period is reflected in the social class.First,based on the state's support policies,the church class is gradually independent and professional,and it is also the source of the formation of the later church system.Second,the purpose of religious policy in this period.It is to establish Christianity as a country of ancient Roman Empire.Various policy instruments have impacted the division of the original social class and adjusted the social class system.In this part,this article concentrates on the relationship between the ancient Roman Empire and religion during this period,that is,the state uses religion as a control tool,plays a role in stabilizing social peace in the early stage,and plays a role in controlling social thought in the later period.The strong supporters of their own development use the country's various preferential treatments based on religion to develop themselves.The relationship between these two two are mutually supportive and use.Through the analysis of the text of Theodosius Code,this paper demonstrates the legal status of the religious field in the 4th-5th centuries,restores the religious attitude of the country at that time,and explores the religious factors in the cause of Rome's decline.