(28) Article VIII of the Rolls of Oleron restated the
Rhodian law of general average, restricting it to sacrifices made only when a vessel was in peril.
The Justinian Code (Corpus Juris Civilis Iustinianus) included the earlier
Rhodian law of jettison, that when some goods had to be thrown overboard to save the vessel, those whose goods survived shared in the loss on the basis of the general average value of what was sacrificed.
Such principles were, indeed, said to date back to
Rhodian law and were, as such, an intrinsic part of the maritime law of nations.
(21) Grant Gilmore and Charles L Black, The Law of Admiralty (2nd ed, 1975) 7, in their introductory section delightfully entitled 'The Past--Or, The
Rhodian Law and All That', conclude that a recognition of the names of the medieval sea-codes 'is all that is really needed even for ornamental purposes by the compleat admiralty proctor....
Let it be judged by
Rhodian Law, prescribed concerning nautical matters, so far as no one of our laws is opposed.
Rhodian laws were the first to allow a salvor to claim a reward based on a percentage of the cargo or ship recovered and the danger involved in the operation.