The higher powers
Caracalla's edict shows the great legislative power of the emperor. Because of thus power also the function of the Senate changed in the imperial period. In first case they were an advisory body to the king, consuls. However, they became a body that also could make laws. The emperor heavily influenced the consuls so eventually it was the emperor who made the laws instead of an independent body.
This is an example of that phenomenon:
In 135 AD, the emperor Hadrian codified the eternal edict. For now on ius praetorium exists. However, ius praetorium and ius civile are more or less the same. The only difference is that ius praetorium is variable and ius civile is fixed. The ius praetorium was seen as an addition and an improvement…show more content… But they did implement new rights. The rights the Praetors implemented were seen as an improvement of the ius civile. It can be said that the Praetors improved the ius civile by making it more reasonable. They made it more reasonable by letting the victim claim an amount of assessed (4) in accordance to the circumstances of the case instead of the praetor. This change in the system was called actio aestimatoria iniuriarum.
Jurists
In the Roman Empire, the jurists became more and more important to the people because many people asked them for advice. Some famous jurists from that time are: Ulpianus, Papinianus, Paulus and Julianus. Also the emperors appointed jurists to give them advice. Most of these advices had a large influence on the laws in the Empire. Most of the writings from jurists were commentaries or opinions on Lex or Edicts were given to the Praetor or Consuls. The literary and practical achievements of the jurists of this period gave Roman law its unique shape.
The new concepts and legal institutions developed by jurists are too numerous to mention here. Therefore, we can only give a few