Bracton chose the words of Ulpian (Pandects 1.1.1) to describe the legal profession: "Ius dicitur ars boni et aequi, cuius merito quis nos sacerdotes appellat: iusticiam namque colimus et sacra iura ministramus." (Law is called the good and just art, whose priests we are deservedly called: for we worship Justice and minister the sacred laws.) Ulpian was an influential Roman jurist in the second century, whose writings were revered in medieval Europe. Bracton felt himself to be, metaphorically, a priest of the law, "a priest forever in the order of Ulpian," a playful allusion to the Melchizedek priesthood.