Ancora sul divieto giustinianeo di commentarii al Digesto

Through some additional arguments, the author confirms his previous interpretation that the Justinian’s ban on commentaries was established only for the Digest and was not specifically addressed to law teachers, but rather concerned the forensic use of the Digest; furthermore, starting from Scheltema’s idea that forbidden commentaries were marginal notes placed directly in the manuscripts, the author hypothesizes that the prohibition aimed at avoiding a writing practice attested in many fields during late Antiquity, i.e. the creation of ‘chaines’ (catenae) of marginalia, which collected different interpretations from other people’s commentaries: such a practice would have contrasted the propaganda of the overcoming of interpretatives controversies realized thanks the Digest.