ABSTRACT
It could be argued that with Constantine we see the first attempt at Christianization of the law, just as it could be argued that precisely the Christianization of Roman law transformed Roman law into Byzantine law. As it is my brief to present the way desire and denial have been dealt with by the law, and, furthermore, as desire and denial lead us to questions of morality and ethics, obviously the vexed problem of Christian influence on the law cannot be avoided.1 It seems therefore practical to start with the
fourth century and not to be dogmatic about the distinction between Roman and Byzantine law.
