This, the earliest code or collection of maritime laws, was formulated by the people of the island of Rhodes, who, by thelr commercial prosperity and the superiority of their navies, had ac-qulred the sovereignty of the seas. Its date is very uncertain, but is supposed (by Kent and others) to be about 900 B. C. Nothing of it is now extant except the article on jettison, which has been preserved in the Roman col-lections. (Dig. 14, 2, “Lex Rhodia-de Jactu:1) Another code, under the same name, was published In more modern times, but is generally considered, by the best authorities, to be spurious. See Schomberg, Mar. Laws Rhodes, 37, 38; 3 Kent, Comm. 3, 4; Azuni, Mar. Law, 265-296
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
