- Source
- Digesta Iustiniani Augusti. Mommsen, Theodor & Krueger, Paul, editors. Berlin: Weidmann, 1870.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.15.3.pr-1.15.3.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-24
Explains the background of the establishment and organization of the prefect of the watch by the emperor, and outlines his jurisdiction over crimes such as arson and burglary, alongside his duties of night patrol and fire prevention.
[PAULUS libro singulari de officio praefecti uigilum.]
[PAULUS, in his single book On the Office of the Prefect of the Watch.]
nam salutem rei publicae tueri nulli magis credidit1 conuenire nec alium sufficere ei rei, quam Caesarem. itaque septem cohortes oportunis locis constituit, ut binas regiones urbis unaquaeque cohors tueatur, praepositis eis tribunis et super omnes spectabili uiro qui praefectus uigilum appellatur.
For he believed that to protect the safety of the state suited no one more than Caesar, and that no other was sufficient for this task than Caesar. Therefore, he established seven cohorts in suitable places, so that each cohort should guard two regions of the city, with tribunes placed over them and, over all, an honorable man who is called the prefect of the watch.
Cognoscit praefectus uigilum de incendiariis effractoribus furibus raptoribus receptatoribus, nisi si qua2 tam atrox tamque famosa persona sit, ut praefecto urbi remittatur. et quia plerumque incendia culpa fiunt inhabitantium, aut fustibus castigat eos qui neglegentius ignem habuerunt, aut seuera interlocutione comminatus fustium castigationem remittit.
The prefect of the watch hears cases concerning incendiaries, housebreakers, thieves, robbers, and receivers of stolen goods, unless someone is so atrocious and notorious a person that they should be remitted to the prefect of the city. And since fires mostly occur through the fault of the inhabitants, he either punishes with clubs those who have kept fire too negligently, or, having threatened them with a severe verbal warning, remits the punishment of the clubs.
Effracturae fiunt plerumque in insulis in horreisque, ubi homines pretiosissimam partem fortunarum suarum reponunt, cum uel cella effringitur uel armarium uel arca: et custodes plerumque puniuntur et ita diuus Antoninus Erucio Claro rescripsit. ait enim posse eum horreis effractis quaestionem habere3 de seruis custodibus, licet in illis ipsius imperatoris portio esset.
Housebreakings occur mostly in apartment buildings and warehouses, where people store the most precious part of their fortunes, when either a room, a cupboard, or a chest is broken open; and the guards are usually punished, and so the divine Antoninus wrote back to Erucius Clarus. For he said that when warehouses are broken open, he can conduct an examination under torture of the slave guards, even if the emperor’s own share was among them.
Sciendum est autem praefectum uigilum per totam noctem uigilare debere et coerrare calciatum cum hamis et dolabris, ut curam adhibeant4 omnes inquilinos admonere, ne neglegentia aliqua incendii casus oriatur. praeterea ut aquam unusquisque inquilinus in cenaculo habeat, iubetur admonere.
Moreover, it must be known that the prefect of the watch ought to stay awake through the whole night and go about shod, with hooks and axes, so that they may take care to warn all tenants lest any fire should arise through some negligence. Furthermore, he is ordered to warn that every tenant must have water in their upper room.
Aduersus capsarios quoque, qui mercede seruanda in balineis uestimenta suscipiunt, iudex est constitutus, ut, si quid in seruandis uestimentis fraudulenter admiserint, ipse cognoscat.
Against the cloakroom keepers also, who receive clothes in the baths to guard them for a fee, he is established as judge, so that if they have committed any fraud in guarding the clothes, he himself may hear the case.
- 1.15.3.prcredidit
The subject of the verb credidit ("he believed") is not explicitly mentioned but refers to Emperor Augustus, who established the office of the prefect of the watch. It governs the accusative-and-infinitive clauses nulli magis ... conuenire ("suited no one more") and nec alium sufficere ... quam Caesarem ("no other was sufficient than Caesar").
- 1.15.3.1nisi si qua
The conditional conjunction nisi ("unless") is combined with si ("if") to form a double conditional expression meaning "except if" or "unless indeed". The indefinite pronoun qua ("any") is feminine nominative singular agreeing with persona, expressing "unless any person should be so atrocious and notorious".
- 1.15.3.2posse eum horreis effractis quaestionem habere
An accusative-and-infinitive construction depending on ait ("he said"), which introduces indirect speech. The subject accusative of the infinitive posse ("to be able") is eum ("him", referring to the prefect of the watch). horreis effractis ("warehouses having been broken into") is an ablative absolute expressing time or condition.
- 1.15.3.4ut curam adhibeant
A purpose clause introduced by ut. The subject of the active subjunctive present plural adhibeant ("they may apply [care]") is not the singular praefectum uigilum of the preceding section, but implicitly the subordinates under his command. The infinitive admonere ("to warn") complements the phrase curam adhibeant.