Certum moderamen in Constitutio Tanta, 1: una proposta filologica e interpretativa

The paper examines c. Tanta, 1 and the meaning to be attributed to the word moderamen in the context of the expression eidem viro excelso permisimus tam colligere quam certo moderamini trader. First, compared with legal and literary sources, moderamine (mss) seems preferable to moderamini (Mommsen) from a philological point of view. Secondly, the meaning of moderamine seems nearer to the semantic sphere of &guide, direction government' (gubernatio), with no secondary allusion to the moderation (moderatio) needed in the practice of this action. Based on these assumptions, moderamine in c. Tanta, 1 should refer to Tribonian, the vir excelsus to which Justinian entrusted the completion of the maximum opus.