Ga⋅ius
[gey-uh
s] 
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| Ga·ius (gā'əs, gī'-) Roman jurist whose chief work, the Institutes, is a major source of information on Roman law. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Gaius
(1.) A Macedonian, Paul's fellow-traveller, and his host at Corinth when he wrote his Epistle to the Romans (16:23). He with his household were baptized by Paul (1 Cor. 1:14). During a heathen outbreak against Paul at Ephesus the mob seized Gaius and Aristarchus because they could not find Paul, and rushed with them into the theatre. Some have identified this Gaius with No. (2). (2.) A man of Derbe who accompanied Paul into Asia on his last journey to Jerusalem (3.) A Christain of Asia Minor to whom John addressed his third epistle (3 John 1:1).
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Gaius
Roman jurist whose writings became authoritative in the late Roman Empire. The Law of Citations (426), issued by the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II, named Gaius one of five jurists (the others were Papinian, Ulpian, Modestinus, and Paulus) whose doctrines were to be followed by judges in deciding cases. The Institutiones ("Institutes") of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565), which were intended to supersede Gaius's treatise of the same name, were modeled on the older work in style and content, and numerous passages were copied verbatim.
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