Civilis

Civilis (Julius Civilis), fl. A.D. 70, Batavian chief who chose the unsettled period at the fall of Nero to raise a revolt in Germany, which quickly spread to Gaul (A.D. 69-70). Its chief effect was to remove from Vitellius, who was struggling with Vespasian, any real support from Gaul. After Vespasian became emperor, he sent the Roman general Cerialis to put down the revolt. The rebels were treated with great consideration, and many entered the Roman service. Civilis' fate, however, is unknown.

Collections of laws and legal interpretations developed under the sponsorship of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I from 529 to 565. Strictly speaking, they did not constitute a new legal code. Rather, Justinian's committees of jurists provided basically two reference works that contained collections of past laws and extracts of the opinions of the great Roman jurists. Also included were an elementary outline of the law and a collection of Justinian's new laws.

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Civilis was a Roman name that can refer to :

• Gaius Julius Civilis, the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69
• Tiberius Claudius Civilis
• Civilis, a vicarius of Roman Britain in 368