- 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-lat1:2.4.5.pr
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
States the famous principle of Roman law that while the mother is always certain, the father is determined by the marriage.
[PAULUS libro quarto ad edictum.]
[PAUL, in the fourth book on the Edict.]
quia semper certa est,1 etiam si uolgo conceperit: pater uero is est, quem nuptiae demonstrant.2
because the mother is always certain, even if she has conceived out of wedlock; but the father is he whom the marriage points out.
- 2.4.5.prcerta est
Since the adjective is in the feminine nominative singular, the omitted subject is clearly the mother (mater), contextually supplied from matrem at the end of the preceding fragment (D. 2.4.4.3).
- 2.4.5.prnuptiae demonstrant
The phrase 'the marriage points out' formulates the fundamental legal presumption in Roman law that 'the father is he whom the marriage points out' (pater is est quem nuptiae demonstrant), meaning a child born to a married woman is presumed to be her husband's.