Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.1.3.pr

Lawfulness of Self-Defense and Injustice of Harm

Passage 3 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains the lawfulness of self-defense and argues that plotting against fellow humans is a crime, given the natural kinship among humanity.

[FLORENTINUS libro primo institutionum. ] §1.1.3.prut uim atque iniuriam propulsemus: nam iure hoc euenit, ut quod quisque ob tutelam corporis sui fecerit, iure fecisse existimetur, et cum inter nos cognationem quandam natura constituit, consequens est hominem homini insidiari nefas esse.
[FLORENTINUS in the first book of the Institutes.] that we should ward off violence and injustice: for it happens by law that whatever anyone does for the protection of his own body is deemed to have been done lawfully; and since nature has established a certain relationship among us, it follows that for a human being to plot against another human being is a heinous crime.

Notes

  1. §1.1.3.prut uim atque iniuriam propulsemus — A noun or purpose-exemplifying clause introduced by ut, continuing the structure from the end of the previous fragment (§1.1.2.pr: ueluti... ut... pareamus). It serves as another example of what natural law or the law of nations dictates.
  2. §1.1.3.prnam iure hoc euenit, ut quod quisque ob tutelam corporis sui fecerit, iure fecisse existimetur — The demonstrative pronoun hoc refers forward to the appositive ut-clause (ut... existimetur). Within this ut-clause, the relative clause quod quisque... fecerit (with the antecedent id omitted) serves as the subject of the infinitive fecisse or the main subject of existimetur. fecerit is a future perfect.
  3. §1.1.3.prcum inter nos cognationem quandam natura constituit — The conjunction cum is used here with the indicative present (constituit), emphasizing an established, objective fact as the ground or reason ('since' or 'inasmuch as' nature has established).
  4. §1.1.3.prconsequens est hominem homini insidiari nefas esse — The subject of the impersonal expression consequens est ('it follows') is the accusative and infinitive (AcI) construction nefas esse ('to be a crime'). The subject of this infinitive nefas esse is in turn another infinitive clause, hominem homini insidiari ('for one human to plot against another').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.1.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.1.3.pr

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