(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Report by Fawaz Al-Otaibi
BEIRUT, Feb 18 (KUNA) -- In downtown Beirut lies remains of the ancient law school dating back to the Roman times when it was a mecca for students from various corners of expanse empire.
Beirut earned the brand, "the mother of laws" due to the past existence of the ancient law school. And the German jurist, Johann Strauch, had published a book titled "Berytus or the Metropolis of Berytus, in 1662 AD, shedding light on the old school that existed during rule of the Romans (and later the eastern Romans, also known as the Byzantines).
Dr. Antoine Masarrah, a law professor, said in an interview with KUNA that the extinct law school in Beirut had been established two centuries BC and continued to exist until 551 AD, when a devastating earthquake demolished the city and the school itself, along with other coastal regions and towns.
The Beirut law school was the most prominent one among a number of law schools that had existed during the Roman times and this inspired the tag, "Beirut the mother of laws," Dr. Masraah said.
Its fame also derived from the fact that it had hosted a group of church jurists and scholars whose edicts were mandatory during the Roman rule, he said. The Romans had chosen Beirut to host the law school to preserve the constitutions and legislations of their vast and flourishing empire.
In 438 AD, the Beirut school had become on par with law colleges in Rome and Constantinople, Dr. Masarrah said, also indicating that its curricula had been taught in various languages including Latin and Greek.
The Byzantine emperor Justinian had revised all Roman laws and assembled them in four large volumes called the Justinian Code. Most members of the legal teams he had assembled for the task were from the Beirut school, Dr. Masarrah said.
Due to its devastation in the July 551 AD earthquake, the school was shifted to the southern city of Sidon where it continued to function until the Islamic conquest in 635 AD.
In the 12th century, Beirut restored some of its glamour as a hub for teaching laws, when a number of scholars earned fame for Islamic edicts in jurisprudence. One of the most famous Islamic scholars during the Ammawite-Abbasite times was Imam Ouzai, famed for deep understanding of the Sharia and tolerance among the co-existing diverse communities in the old Levant.
Remains of the devastated old school in downtown Beirut testified that the city had harbored scholars since a very long time ago. (end) fo
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