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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.10.pr

Laws and Senate Decrees Concerning What Usually Occurs

Passage 29 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that neither laws nor senatusconsults can cover every possible future case, and it is sufficient to encompass what usually happens.

[IULIANUS libro LVIIII digestorum. ] §1.3.10.prNeque leges neque senatus consulta ita scribi possunt, ut omnes casus qui quandoque inciderint comprehendantur, sed sufficit ea quae plerumque accidunt contineri.
[JULIAN on the Digest, Book LIX] Neither laws nor senatusconsults can be so written as to include all cases which may occur at any time, but it is sufficient that those things which happen for the most part are contained in them.

Notes

  1. §1.3.10.prita ... ut ... comprehendantur — The correlative words `ita` and `ut` (governing the subjunctive `comprehendantur`) express a result or manner ("in such a way that..."). Here, it denotes the impossibility of drafting laws in such a manner that every single future contingency is covered.
  2. §1.3.10.princiderint — Future perfect indicative (or perfect subjunctive) third-person plural. In the relative clause `qui quandoque inciderint`, it expresses an action that will have occurred prior to the future point of reference implied by the main clause.
  3. §1.3.10.prsufficit ea ... contineri — The infinitive clause `ea ... contineri` ("that those things... be contained") serves as the subject of the impersonal verb `sufficit`. `ea` is the neuter plural accusative subject of the passive infinitive `contineri`, and acts as the antecedent of the relative clause `quae plerumque accidunt`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.10.pr

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