Peter Riedlberger: Prolegomena zu den spätantiken Konstitutionen

Nel complesso, il libro di R. è da considerarsi senz’altro un’opera che deve figurare nella biblioteca di ogni studioso del diritto tardoantico e della storia religiosa tardoantica in genere, il quale non può sottrarsi al confronto con esso. È facile prevedere che molti dei risultati ivi raggiunti entreranno a far parte della discussione tra gli esperti.

»Wer konkrete Rechtsinstitute durch die oft vernachlässigte Zeit zwischen Diokletian und Justinian verfolgt, kommt an Riedlberger nicht vorbei.«

»R.'s writing is clear and should be accessible to foreign scholars with a reading knowledge of German [...] His knowledge of Latin is strong, and he has engaged deeply in late Roman law (and the scholarly literature). [...] There is much that is useful and provocative within this large volume, and I enjoyed reading it and feel it should be acquired by major university research libraries.«

»Peter Riedlberger’s monograph is surely a significant publication, ground-breaking at least in the sense that no future discussion concerning late antique penal legislation in religious matters will be possible without a serious consideration of its arguments and conclusions, including the numerous instances of critical evaluation of the current communis opinio.«

»Sous un titre qui fait référence à la préface monumentale que Th. Mommsen donna à l’édition du Codex Theodosianus, P. Riedlberger (Université de Bamberg) propose dans ses propres prolegomena une réflexion riche et ordonnée, appelée à marquer une étape significative des études consacrées à l’histoire du droit tardo-antique.«

»Outre l’analyse d’une trentaine de « fragments » du Code théodosien, l’ouvrage de Riedlberger est une mine d’informations sur le vocabulaire juridique ou religieux de l’Antiquité tardive (par exemple, sur le terme « apostat », p. 686-692). L’historien des religions aussi bien que le spécialiste du droit romain y trouveront leur compte. L’index des matières et des textes cités permettront de tirer le meilleur parti de ce riche instrument de travail.«

»Materiell enthält das Buch zwei Monographien, die beide nach Umfang und Gehalt auch als Habilitationsschriften durchgehen könnten [...] Für künftige Arbeiten zum Theodosianus wird das Werk den selbstverständlichen Ausgangspunkt bilden. [...] Die Arbeit ist in ihren beiden [...] Teilen ab sofort ein unentbehrliches Standardwerk zur spätantiken Gesetzgebung im Allgemeinen und zum Umgang der Kaiser mit religiösen Dissidenten im Besonderen.«

»Selbst wenn man nicht in allem den emphatischen Aufrufen von R. zur Abkehr von der bisherigen Lehre folgen wird, machen der Gedankenreichtum, die konsequente Quellennähe und die intellektuelle Eigenständigkeit der Darstellung das Werk zu einer in jeder Hinsicht anregenden und überaus gewinnbringenden Lektüre.«

»In sum, R. has produced a valuable contribution to the study of imperial constitutions, one that cannot be ignored by anyone working with the CTh. The author deserves praise for his willingness to produce this piece of academic slow food, on which he spent 10 years, in the current academic climate. Given his methodical approach, it is to be hoped that we will hear more from R. about imperial law and the CTh. in the future.«

»Overall, R.'s study is an amazing ›Fundgrube‹ for anyone interested in late antique law with a particular curiosity about imperial legal dealings with heretical groups. R. offers meticulous analyses of the laws which quite often bring out elements that scholarship so far has not realized, which is a wonderful accomplishment. Furthermore, R. is also to be praised for the extensive and valuable cross references throughout the entire book which yet again demonstrate the intricacies of late antique law, which call for our continued and perhaps in some cases renewed attention.«

»[Eine] bemerkenswerte Forschungsarbeit, [die] gut strukturiert [ist] und reich an Informationen und Details, die weit über die Antike hinausgehen.«

»The book is undoubtedly a welcome addition to our knowledge on legislation against heretics and apostates and a must for anybody interested in their history and how the laws treated of are embedded in it.«

»In this authoritative study, Peter Riedlberger [...] provides us with a consistent, thoroughly documented and well-argued vision of the legislative process in Late Antiquity with regards to legislation concerning those groups that were deemed to be heterodox within the framework of Codex Theodosianus.«