Ἀποκρίματα und die Kaiserkonstitutionen

The article presents an attempt to comprehend the ἀποκρίματα within the system of Roman imperial constitutions. Whereas it is generally assumed, that the ἀποκρίματα were identical with the subscripts, it is argued that they constituted a kind of imperial enactment sui generis, which cannot be identified with any of the known types of constitutions. We find the term ἀπόκριμα, which had no technical meaning until the end of the second century, being used with a consistent connotation only after the visit of Septimius Severus and Caracalla to Egypt. Furthermore, it refers specifically to the group of decisions, which the both emperors have issued in Alexandria during that visit.