contemporaries — existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time: Newton's discovery of the calculus was contemporary with that of Leibniz.
presents — being, existing, or occurring at this time or now; current: increasing respect for the present ruler of the small country.
novels — Roman Law. an imperial enactment subsequent and supplementary to an imperial compilation and codification of authoritative legal materials. Usually, Novels. imperial enactments subsequent to the promulgation of Justinian's Code and supplementary to it: one of the four divisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
