Antistius Labeo, Marcus

Marcus Antistius Labeo was a leading scholar during the age of Augustus. Primarily known for his foundational contributions to Roman law, his scholarship had a wide scope and notably included linguistic and antiquarian studies. Details about his background and life remain uncertain. The son of Pacuvius Labeo, who joined the conspiracy against Caesar, Marcus Labeo first appears in the record as a member of the committee reviewing Senate membership under Augustus in 18 bce. His eagerness to select Lepidus the triumvir, against Augustus’ explicit pushback, set the tone for his reception as a fiercely anti-monarchical mind and defender of libertas. The sources suggest that this was the reason for his failure to obtain the consulship under Augustus. An active jurist and teacher of law, Labeo wrote a considerable oeuvre on sacred, public, and private law. His commentary on the praetor’s edict was a particularly influential work that shaped how praetorian law was understood, applied, and studied for centuries. Even after the transformative and monumental work on the edict in the Hadrianic period, the jurists Paul and Ulpian still used Labeo’s work as the starting point of their own commentaries in the Severan age. His work is preserved in several hundreds of fragments, primarily in Justinian’s Digest but also in the works of non-jurists such as Gellius and the lexicographer Festus.