Ut nulli patriae suae administratio sine speciali principis permissu permittatur. Cod. Justinian. 1. i. tit. xli.
This law was first enacted by the emperor Marcus, after the rebellion of Cassius (Dion, 1. lxxi. [c. 31, p. 1195]). The same regulation is observed in China, with equal strictness, and with equal effect.