 They also contain the statutes ("constitutiones") of several 5th-century emperors, and later copyists sometimes sought to enhance the work's authority by naming it a collection of laws of Constantine I, Theodosius I (or II) and Leo I.Although it deals with penal and public law as well, the primary focus of the Syro-Roman law book is private law, especially family law (inheritance, marriage, dowries, paternal authority and slaveholding).Given this focus, it has been suggested that the compilation was designed for use in episcopal courts ("episcopalis audientia"), where such things would have formed the bulk of actual cases.