 The content of the work is unsystematic and even includes laws that were obsolete already in the 5th century.It was long considered a mixture of actual imperial law and local eastern Roman custom, but with the publication of a critical edition (2002) this view has become untenable.It is now recognised that it is a compilation of official legal texts (often in paraphrase) with commentary (including fictional cases) designed for use in eastern law schools, such as the law school of Berytus.