We are aware that We have previously promulgated an Imperial Constitution by which We entrusted to Your Glory the five provinces of Caria, Cyprus, and the island surrounding them, Mysia, and Scythia, for the purpose of being subjected to your administration. In this constitution We add that appeals taken in these provinces instead of being brought, as heretofore, before Our Most Glorious Prefects, shall be brought before yourself. Many persons from Caria, Rhodes, and Cyprus have applied to Us, making complaint, and stating that they are frequently obliged during the winter to resort to Scythia and Mysia, where you reside, for the purpose of prosecuting appeals, many of which involve very small sums of money, and that they are compelled to cross wide seas, and regions infested with barbarians; and for this reason We have determined to address this law to Your Glory; so that any appeals taken from Scythia and Mysia, as they are in your vicinity, may be heard by you, but any from elsewhere, that is to say, from Caria, and the aforesaid islands, and Cyprus — provided they were formerly brought before Our Most Glorious Prefect and, by virtue of Our Imperial order were within the jurisdiction of the Prefectural magistracy — and you should be in this royal city, shall be brought before and decided by you and the Most Glorious Quaestor of Our Imperial Palace, in the Imperial Audience-Chamber, as the law regulating appeals directs.
  (1) If, however, you should continue to reside in Scythia and Mysia, appeals from the three other provinces shall be heard by the magistrate who takes your place in this Fortunate City, and shall be disposed of by him and Our Most Glorious Quaestor, in their regular order, as We do not desire litigants to be subjected to inconvenience for too long a time; however, as We have enacted this law on their account, their cases shall be determined by the two magistrates whom We have just mentioned, the proceedings shall be conducted with greater diligence, and the decisions shall acquire still greater authority.
  (2) But if you appoint a judge in the above-mentioned provinces, the magistrate who takes your place in this Fortunate City shall have cognizance of appeals taken from the decisions of the former, and shall determine them conjointly with the Most Glorious Prefect; for if a case taken up on appeal should be begun before you, while you are here (which is likely to occur), and afterwards you should change your residence on account of judicial expenses, this appeal shall be disposed of without delay by the magistrate who takes your place, in the same way as if you yourself had decided it. When, however, in the first place, the appeal is taken from any of the provinces, instead of being brought before the Most Glorious Prefects, or some other tribunal, We do not, in this instance, change the ancient practice in any respect.

  Your Glory will hasten to render effective the matters which We have decided upon, and promulgated by means of this Imperial law, which you will cause to be observed forever hereafter.