Salvius Julianus

Lucius Octavius Cornelius Publius Salvius Iulianus Aemilianus, generally known as Salvius Julianus or Julian the Jurist, lived from about 110 to about 170 and was a jurist, public official and politician of North African origin who served in the Roman imperial state under the emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Aurelius's co-emperor Lucius Verus. He rose through a traditional series of offices, serving as quaestor to Hadrian at double the usual salary, then as plebeian tribune, praetor, and holder of the treasury prefectures, before becoming Roman consul in 148, and he was a member of the emperor's inner council, the consilium principis, which directed new legislation and sometimes sat as a court of law. His life's work centered on the final consolidation of the edictal law and on composing his great Digest in ninety books, which stands as the primary source for reconstructing his jurisprudence.