Jurisconsult is a man versed in jurisprudence, that is to say, in the science of laws, customs, and practices, and in all that is related to law and equity.

The ancients called their jurisconsults sages and philosophers , because philosophy incorporates the first principles of law, and because its object is to prevent us from doing what is against the laws of nature: philosophy and jurisprudence both have as their goal the love and practice of justice. Also, Cassiodorus gives philosophy the same definition that laws give us of jurisprudence. “ Philosophia ,” he says in his book on Dialectics, “ est divinarum humanarumque rerum, in quantum homini possibile est, probabilis sententia. ” [is divinity in the human condition, insofar as it is possible for man]. Pythagoras, Draco, Solon, Lycurgus, and several others only became legislators of Greece because they were philosophers.

However, not all jurisconsults are legislators: some who were part of the government of a nation made laws to serve as its rules, others applied themselves solely to the knowledge of laws that were already established.

Further, we should not give the title of jurisconsult to those who only have a superficial knowledge of observed practices: one can be a good practitioner without being an adept jurisconsult; to merit this latter title, one must join the knowledge of philosophy to the knowledge of law, and particularly the knowledge of logic, morality, and of politics. One must understand chronology and history— the knowledge and the just application of laws often depending on the time period and the mores of the people. One must above all ally legal theory with practice, have a deep understanding of the science of law, know the origins and the circumstances that had given rise to laws, the conjunctures in which they were made, penetrate their meaning and spirit, understand the progress of jurisprudence, and the revolutions that it has experienced. One must finally have sufficient knowledge of all things that jurisprudence touches upon, divinarum atque humanrum rerum scientiam [of divine and human knowledge]; and consequently, one must possess all the sciences and arts. However, to jurisprudence I will apply willingly the restriction that Cassiodorus made concerning the knowledge that a philosopher must have, in quantum homini possibile est [as far as humanly possible]; because it is quite difficult, if not impossible, for a single man to unite perfectly all the knowledge necessary to be a great jurisconsult.

From this, we can see how difficult it is to come to deserve this title; however, we have several authors who have given themselves this name, such as Dumoulin, who adopted the title of jurisconsult of France and of Germania and who deserved it without question. But it is not suitable for those who have some knowledge of law to assume the role of jurisconsult, the enlightened public must confer this title on those they judge worthy of it.

The first and the most celebrated of all jurisconsults was Moses, sent by God to lead his people and to transmit to them his laws.

The Egyptians had as jurisconsults and legislators three of their princes, two of whom we know: Mercures and Amasis [II].

Minos made laws on the island of Crete; but if it is glorious to see kings among the ranks of jurisconsults , it is no less glorious to see princes renounce the throne to devote themselves entirely to the study of jurisprudence, as did Lycurgus, who, despite being the son of one of the two kings of Sparta, preferred to become a fellow citizen of those he could have governed as king. He pursued this end by instructing himself in the laws of Crete, traveling throughout Asia and Egypt, and returning to Lacedaemon [Sparta], where he acquired such unanimous esteem that the leaders of the city helped him to implement his laws.

Zoroaster, so famous among the Persians, gave them laws that would spread among several other peoples. Pythagoras, who was instructed in them during his travels, brought them to the Crotoniates: two of his disciples, Charondas and Zaleucus, brought them to the Thurians and the Locrians; Zamolxis, who had also followed Pythagoras, brought these laws to the Scythians.

Athens had two famous philosophers, Draco and Solon, who likewise gave Athens laws.

Among the Romans, the role of the legislator was distinguished from that of the jurisconsult : the power to make laws belonged to those who held political power, the function of jurisconsults was limited to the study of laws and their interpretation. They were called prudentes and their responses were called responsa prudentum [prudent responses] par excellence. They were also called juris autores [legal authorities] and they qualified as priests of justice, justitioe sacerdotes .

Roman jurisconsults originated in the law of patronage established by Romulus. Each plebian chose a patron among the patricians who would aid them with their counsel and be charged with their defense: the clients gave their patrons presents called honoraria .

As the understanding of Roman law became difficult due to the multiplicity and variations of laws, they chose a certain number of wise and enlightened people whose sole occupation was with the laws so that they could interpret them. They called these interpreters patrons and those who consulted them, clients .

At first, these interpreters were not in great numbers; but they subsequently multiplied such that for the people, in finding in them [the interpreters] all the resources necessary for the conduct of their affairs, the credit of older patrons diminished little by little.

After Gnaeus Flavius and Sextus Aelius Paetus Catus had published procedural methods, several jurisconsults composed commentaries on the laws. These commentaries always held great weight, but they were not truly part of written law until Theodosius the Younger gave the writings of several ancient jurisconsults the force of law.

Apart from these commentaries, jurisconsults also gave responses to those who came to consult them, these responses being verbal or written according to the nature of the affair or the place in which they were given, for jurisconsults sometimes walked around in the public squares to be more available to give counsel to those who had need of it; these sorts of consultations were only verbal, but ordinarily they were held in their homes.

There were terms consecrated by usage for these consultations. The client asked the juriconsult, licet consulere [is consultation allowed?]; and if the jurisconsult consented to it, he responded consule [I consult]. The client, after having explained his affair, finished by saying quaro an existi mes [can it be advised or considered?], or id jus est nec ne [is that law or not?], etc. The response of the jurisconsult was secundum ea qua proponuntur existime, placet, puto [please consider what was proposed].

When large questions presented themselves, they were discussed in the presence of the people, which were called disputatio fori [market disputes], because this disputation was made in a public place; the question was decided by a plurality of votes. In truth, these decisions did not have the force of law at first, but they were confirmed by use. Some hold that the title de regulis juris [rules of law], is nothing but a collection of the most important of these decisions.

The most famous jurisconsults from the beginning of the Roman Republic to its end were Sextus Papyrius, Appius-Claudius-Contemmanus, Sempronius, nicknamed the Sage, Tiberius Coruncanius, the two Catos, Junius Brutus, Publius Mucius Scaevola, Quintus Mucius Scaevola, Publius Rutilius Rufus, Aquilius Gallus, Lucilius Balbus, Caius Juventius, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, Caius-Trebatius, Ofilius, Aulus Cascellius, Quintus Aelius Tubero, Alfenus Varus, Aufridius-Tuca, and Aufridius-Namusa, Lucius-Cornelius-Silla, Cneïus-Pompeïus, and several others who are less well-known.

The jurisconsults of Rome were what we would consider consulting lawyers, that is to say, those who, because of their age and experience attained the position of consultant, and whom ancient ordinances called advocati consiliarii . However, in Rome, pleading lawyers never became jurisconsults ; these were different jobs entirely.

From the time of the republic, the occupation of lawyers was more honorable than that of jurisconsults because it was the route to attain the highest honors. Jurisconsults were even called formularii, or legueli out of disdain, because they had invented certain formulas and certain monosyllabic words to respond more seriously and more mysteriously. However, they made themselves so commendable that they were called prudentes or sapientes.

Their responses acquired a great authority after Augustus had accorded to a certain number of illustrious persons the exclusive right to interpret the laws and to give decisions to which judges were obliged to conform to. He even gave these jurisconsults letters such that they were regarded as officers of the emperor.

In contrast, Caligula threatened to destroy the entire order of jurisconsults . This was not executed, and Tiberius and Adrien would legitimate jurisconsults in the privileges that were accorded to them by Augustus.

Theodosius the Younger and Valentinian III, to remove the uncertainty born from a number of different opinions, ordered that the works of Papinian, Gaius, Paul, Ulpian, and Modestinus would have the exclusive force of law and that when the jurisconsults were split, the sentiment of Papinian would prevail.

However, those who worked under the orders of Justinian in the composition of the Digest also made use of the works of other jurisconsults .

From Augustus to Hadrian, the jurisconsults began to divide themselves into several factions. Antistius Labeo and Arterius Capito were the authors of the first of these factions. The former employed his genius to give new opinions and his faction members attached themselves more to the spirit of the law and equity than to the exact terms of the law. The other, by contrast, held itself strictly to the letter of the law and to ancient maxims. Labeo’s party was supported by Proculus and Pegasus, his disciples, from which this sect took the name Proculian or Pegasian, in the same way that Capito’s was called successively Sabinian and Cassian, from the names of two of Capito’s disciples.

The disciples of Labeo were Nerva, Proculus (father and son), Pegasus, Celsus (father and son), and Neratius Priscus. Those of Capito were Masurius Sabinus, Cassius Longinus, Caelius Sabinus, Javolenus Priscus, Alburnius Valens, Tuscianus and Salvius Julianus. The latter, after having united the different factions who divided Jurisprudence, composed the Praetor’s Edict.

The most famous jurisconsults from Hadrian to Constantine were Gaïus Mucius Scaevola, Sextus Pomponius, Ulpian Paulus, Modestinus, and several others.

Since Constantine, there were Gregorian and Hermogenian, authors of the two codes or compilations that carry their names.

The direction of those [codes] that Justinian I had had made was entrusted to Tribonian, who brought in as collaborators on his work Theophilus, Dorotheus, Leontius, Anatolius, and Cratinus, the patrician John Phocas, Basilides, Thomas, two Constantines, Dioscorus, Praesentinus, Etienne, Mena, Prosdocius, Eutolmius, Timotheus, Leonidas, Plato, Jacques.

For the fashioning of the Digest, Tribonian chose sixteen of those who had worked with him on the code. We know that the Digest was composed of what was best in the books of the jurisconsults ; their works had multiplied to more than 2,000 volumes and more than 300,000 verses. The name of the authoring jurisconsult and the title of the work from which it was taken was marked at the top of each law. It is claimed that after the creation of the Digest, Justinian had all the jurisconsults’ books destroyed; in any event, only a few fragments remain.

Some authors have attempted to assemble these fragments of each work, which were partly in the Digest and elsewhere. However, a large part is still missing, which would be necessary to properly understand the principles of each jurisconsult .

The most famous jurisconsults that Germany has produced are Irnerius, Haloander, Ulrich Zasius, Fichard, Ferrier, Sichard, Mudée, Oldendorp, Damhouden Raevard, Hopper, Zuichem, Ramus, Cisner, Giffen, Volfanghus, Freymonius, Dasius, Vander Anus, Deima Wesembeck, Leunclavius, Vander-Bier, Drederode, Dorcholten, Lectius, Konrad Rittershausen, Hieronymus Treutler, Hugo Grotius, Godefroy, Matthaeus, Hermann Conring, Pufendorf, Cocceius, Leibnitz, and Gerard Noodt, Zeger Bernhard van Espen, etc.

Italy has also produced a large number of knowledgeable jurisconsults such as Martini, and Bulgari his rival, Accursius, Azzone Dei Porci, Bartolus de Saxoferrato, Ferrarius, Fulgose, Giovanni Battista Caccialupi, Paul de Castres, Francesco Aretino, Alessandro Tartagni, the three Sorinis, Cipolla, the Riminaldi, Jason Decius, Ruinus, Andrea Alciato, Nevizan, Guido Panciroli, Matteo D’Afflitto, Peregrinus, Giulio Claro, Lancelot, the two Gentilis, Pacaeus, Menochius, Mantica, Farinacius, Gravina, etc.

There have been scarcely any fewer great jurisconsults in Spain. One finds there a certain Govea, Antoine-Augustin Covaruvias, Vasquez, Gomez, Pinellus, Garvias, Avarés, Pierre and Emmanuel Darbosa, Veneusa, Amaïa Caldas de Peirora, Caldera, Castillo Soto Major, Carranza, Perecius.

France has not been less fruitful in jurisconsults . The number of them is so large that we only repeat the most well-known here, such as Guillaume Durand, nicknamed the speculator, Gui Foucois, who became Pope under the name of Clement IV, Jean Faber, Celse Hugues, Descousu, Guillaume Budé, Equinard Baron, Duaren, Tirqueau, Charles Dumolin, Jean de Coras, François Baudouin or Balduin, Berenger Fernand, Contius, Hotman, Jacques Cujas, Pierre Faber, Barnabé Brisson, Charles Loyseau, Chenu, Loisel,  Petrus Gregorius , Eveillon, Pierre Pithon, Bouchelle, Coquille, Pasquier, Pierre Ayrault, Charles Labbé, Maran, Leschaffier, Brodeau, Antoine Faber, Janus Acosta, Didier Hérault,  Heraldus , Edmond Merille, Charles-Annibal Fabrot.

We must also include amongst the modern practitioners Jean Doujat, Jean Domat, Henrys, Corbin, Baluze, Pinson, Bengy, Gerbais, Ferret, Grimaudet, de Lauriere, de la Marre, Pierre le Merre, Dupuy, Bardet, le Prêtre, Dupineau, Boucheul, Ricard, le Brun, le Grand, Hevin, Poquet de Livonieres, Claude de Ferrieres, de Boutarie, Bouhier, Cochin, de Hericourt, and several others it would take too long to list.

We do not speak of living jurisconsults here at all out of fear of omitting someone who would deserve to be named.

The Roman, French, and other Jurisconsults have always been highly esteemed. Several have been honored with the title of knight, earl, patrician, and elevated to the highest dignities of the state.

Bernardin Rectilius of Vicenza wrote about the lives of jurisconsults over the last 2,000 years. Guido Panciroli wrote four books on the illustrious interpreters of laws. Taisand also wrote on the lives of ancient and modern jurisconsults. Also, we find in the history of Roman Jurisprudence by M. Terrasson a very good summary of those who wrote on Roman Law.