Extract

Lucius Neratius Priscus, an influential Roman lawyer from *Saepinum in *Samnium, was descended from the family of *Antistius Labeo's wife. He was *suffect*consul in ce 97 and later governor of *Germania Inferior, and *Pannonia, but the story that *Trajan considered him a possible successor is a fiction. He headed the Proculian school along with his junior colleague *Celsus, belonged to Hadrian's council, and was still alive in 133. Probably as a teaching aid he wrote Regulae (‘Guidelines’), a genre of literature which soon became popular. He also published seven books (libri) of Membrana (‘Notes’) and, drawing on his practice, three of Responsa (‘Opinions’). Basically conservative, he was nevertheless open to the subjective and moralizing influence of Stoic thought. *Paulus and *Ulpian used him as a source and Justinian's compilers (see justinian's codification) took some 70 passages from his works, some of which have, without good ground, been assigned by scholars to later centuries.