Leveled Readings / Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530
Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530
Code of Justinian (c. 530 CE)
These are adaptations, not the original. The original wording is always shown first. Each adapted version restates the same passage at about a grade 4, grade 7, or grade 10 reading level without adding or removing ideas. Quote the original in student writing.
Original wording
“…no colonus shall altogether of his own right boast himself a freeman or wanderer, but according to the example of other provinces he shall be attached to the lord of the land…”
Adapted · about grade 4
A farm worker cannot claim to be free to leave. He must stay tied to the landowner.
Adapted · about grade 7
No tenant farmer may claim the right to be a free man or wanderer; he will be bound to the landowner, as in other provinces.
Adapted · about grade 10
No colonus may claim by his own right to be a freeman or wanderer; following other provinces, he shall be attached to the lord of the land.
Used in: What makes a law code fair?