Boudewijn Sirks

Adriaan Johan Boudewijn Sirks (born 1947), known as Boudewijn Sirks and as A. J. B. Sirks, is a Dutch academic lawyer and papyrologist specializing in Roman law. He is currently Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Oxford.

Early life

Sirks was educated in law at the University of Leiden, then in theology and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, where he later graduated as a doctor of philosophy in law. [http://www.competition-law.ox.ac.uk/members/profile.php?lecturer_code=boudewijn.sirks Boudewijn Sirks, Regius Professor of Civil Law] at ox.ac.uk (accessed 25 February 2008)]

Career

Sirks's first academic position was as research assistant in philosophy at Amsterdam. However, in 1978 he was appointed as Lecturer in Legal History at the University of Utrecht, where he was later promoted Senior Lecturer in Legal Techniques. At the same time, he was writing a thesis for a doctoral degree in law at the University of Amsterdam. He returned to Amsterdam in 1989 as Reader and acting Professor of Legal Techniques.

In 1997, Sirks became Professor of the History of Ancient Law, of the History of European Private Law, and of German Civil Law, at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main. [http://www.competition-law.ox.ac.uk/news/newsdetail.phtml?ID=58 New Professor Appointed] at competition-law.ox.ac.uk (accessed 25 February 2008)]

In December 2005, HM The Queen appointed him as a Regius Professor at Oxford, with effect from 1 February 2006. At the same time, he was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. The appointment was announced from 10, Downing Street, as follows: cquote|The Queen has been pleased to approve that Professor A J B Sirks be appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Oxford in succession to the late Professor Peter Birks. The appointment will take effect from 1 February 2006.

Sirks has also been a visiting scholar at Columbia University, New York, and Visiting Professor at the University of Kansas, has served as a member of the editorial board of the "Journal of Legal History", and has lectured for the Edinburgh Roman Law Group, which was founded by his predecessor as Regius Professor of Civil Law, Peter Birks. [ [http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/edinburghromanlawgroup/ Edinburgh Roman Law Group] at the web site of the University of Edinburgh's School of Law (accessed 25 February 2008)]

He is a member of the "Studia Amstelodamensia".

Published work

Professor Sirks's research interests span civil law, European private law, the ancient history of law, and papyrology. He has published work on a variety of subjects related to law, papyrology, and the ancient world, including archaic Roman law, matters of classical private law, the administrative and public law of the later Roman Empire and the reception of Roman law in Europe and in the former Dutch East Indies. He is co-author of the standard edition of the Pommersfelden Papyri. [http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page8622.asp Regius Chair in Civil Law - University of Oxford] , news release from 10, Downing Street, dated 1 December 2005 online at number-10.gov.uk (accessed 25 February 2008)]

His "Food for Rome: the Legal Structure of the Transportation and Processing of Supplies for the Imperial Distributions in Rome and Constantinople" (1991) developed from the thesis for his doctoral degree at Amsterdam, completed in 1984. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(199212)97%3A5%3C1496%3AFFRTLS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I Review by Bruce W. Frier of "Food for Rome"] "Food for Rome: The Legal Structure of the Transportation and Processing of Supplies for the Imperial Distributions in Rome and Constantinople by Boudewign Sirks", review in "The American Historical Review", Vol. 97, No. 5 (Dec., 1992), pp. 1496-1497] Following the death of the Dutch papyrologist Pieter Johannes Sijpesteijn in 1996, Sirks edited with K. A. Worp a collection of previously unpublished papyri dedicated to Sijpesteijn's memory by his fellow papyrologists, including papyri from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods, to reflect Sijpesteijn's wide interests. [ [http://papyrology.blogspot.com/2006/11/papyri-in-memory-of-p-j-sijpesteijn.html Papyri in Memory of P. J. Sijpesteijn, edited by A. J. B. Sirks and K. A. Worp] at papyrology.blogspot.com (accessed 25 February 2008)]

elected publications

*H. M. A. Jansen, Johannes B. Opschoor, Adriaan Johan Boudewijn Sirks, "Verkeerslawaai in Nederland" (Coutinho, January 1977) ISBN 978-9062835041 [Title in English: "Traffic noise in the Netherlands"] [http://www.allbookstores.com/author/Adriaan_Johan_Boudewijn_Sirks.html Browse by Author : Adriaan Johan Boudewijn Sirks] at allbookstores.com (accessed 27 February 2008)]
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Sulpicius Severus' Letter to Salvius" in "Bolletino dell'Istituto di Diritto romano" 85 (1982) pp. 143-170 [Summarized by R. D. Tanner: "...regarding Letter VI, A. J. B. Sirks has made a firm defence of authenticity based on the juridical details which fit the era of Severus" (Tanner, R. D., "The Spurious Letters of Sulpicius Severus" in "Studia Patristica" Vol XXVIII, Leuven, Peeters, 1993, p. 114)]
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Food for Rome: the Legal Structure of the Transportation and Processing of Supplies for the Imperial Distributions in Rome and Constantinople" (Amsterdam, Gieben, 1991) ISBN 978-90-5063-069-6 [With origins in an Amsterdam doctoral thesis of 1984, "Food for Rome" examines the transportation and processing of supplies for free imperial distribution in Rome and Constantinople and the regulations governing their distribution.]
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Summaria antiqua Codicis Theodosiani", new edition, with the notes published in P. Krüger, "Codicis Theodosiani fragmenta Taurinensia" (A. J. B. Sirks, Amsterdam, 1996, XII + 130 pp)
*Boudewijn Sirks, "The editing and compilation of the Code" in I. Wood, Jill Harries, "The Theodosian Code: Studies in the Imperial Law of Late Antiquity" (1996)
*A. J. Boudewijn Sirks, "Shifting Frontiers in the Law: Romans, Provincials, and Barbarians", in Ralph Mathisen and Hagith Sivan, eds., "Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity" (Aldershot, 1996)
*A. J. B. Sirks, P. J. Sijpesteijn, K. A. Worp (eds), "Ein frühbyzantinisches Szenario für die Amtswechslung in der Sitonie: die griechischen Papyri aus Pommersfelden (PPG) mit einem Anhang über die Pommersfeldener Digestenfragmente und die Überlieferungsgeschichte der Digesten" (Munich, Beck, 1996)ref name=bba/> [http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/collections/facultypublications/sirks Bodleian Law Library: Boudewijn Sirks] online at ouls.ox.ac.uk (accessed 25 February 2008)]
*A. J. B. Sirks, "The Epistula ad Salvium, appended to a letter of Sulpicius Severus to Paulinus: Observations on a recent analysis by C. Lepelley", in "Subseciva Groningana Vol. VI" (1999) 75
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Saving Souls through Adoption: Legal Adaptation in the Dutch East Indies" in John W. Cairns, O. F. Robinson, "Critical Studies in Ancient Law, Comparative Law and Legal History" (Hart Publishing, 2001) pp 365-379, ISBN 1841131571
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Sailing in the Off-Season with Reduced Financial Risk" and "Some Reflections" in J.-J. Aubert, A. J. B. Sirks (eds), "Speculum Iuris, Roman Law as a Reflection of Social and Economic Life in Antiquity" (The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2002)
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Die Nomination für die städtischen Ämter im römischen Reich", in A. Cordes, J. Rückert, R. Schulze (eds), "Stadt - Gemeinde - Genossenschaft: Festschrift für Gerhard Dilcher zum 70. Geburtstag" (Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2003) ISBN 3503061630 [Abstract: Public officials in Roman towns were originally elected, but from the second century on a candidate was nominated and could appeal to the governor before being appointed. Opinions differ on the detail and meaning of this. It has been suggested that the change may have been due to the economic situation and to a lack of enthusiasm for town administration. Sirks submits that either a committee or the outgoing official proposed the candidates, their nomination was a decision to accept such proposals, the candidate's appeal could be made before the nomination became an appointment, and that the motivation for the change was that town councillors wanted to restrict appointment to their own descendants.]
*K. A. Worp and A. J. B. Sirks (eds), "Papyri in Memory of P J Sijpesteijn" (Oakville CT, American Studies in Papyrology 40, American Society for Papyrologists, 2004) ISBN 0-9700591-0-8
*A. J. B. Sirks, "Der Zweck des Senatus Consultum Claudianum von 52 n. Chr." (2005) in "122 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte, Romanistische Abteilung", pp. 138-149, ISBN 0323-4096 [Abstract: The "Senatus Consultum Claudianum" of 52 AD sanctions the cohabitation of a free woman with a slave, with the enslavement of the woman and of any children born of the union to the slave's owner, if the woman does not leave the slave after a formal warning to do so by his owner. This is interpreted as punishment of the woman, curbing of unequal unions, protection of property, and increase of slaves. These explanations show great flaws, and an analysis of "Pauli Sententiae" 2, 21a, 6-11, which deal with the application of the "Senatus Consultum", shows that the true purpose of the "Senatus Consultum" was to protect the authority of the slave's owner over him, but only if the owner wished this.]
*Boudewijn Sirks, "The food distributions in Rome and Constantinople: Imperial power and continuity" in Kolb, Anne, "Herrschaftsstrukturen und Herrschaftspraxis: Konzepte, Prinzipien und Strategien der Administration im römischen Kaiserreich" (Akademie Verlag, 2006) ISBN 3050041498
*A. J. B. Sirks, "The Theodosian Code, a Study" (Editions du Quatorze Septembre, 2007) ISBN 978-3-00-022777-6

Notes