[CELSUS libro XXVI digestorum. ] §1.3.17.prScire leges non hoc est uerba earum tenere, sed uim ac potestatem.
[CELSUS, Digest, Book 26] To know the laws is not to hold their words, but their force and power.
Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.17.pr
Celsus on the True Meaning of Knowing the Laws
Summary
Celsus' definition of "knowing the laws," stating that to know the laws is not to memorize their words, but to understand their essential force and power.
Notes
- §1.3.17.prnon hoc est uerba earum tenere, sed uim ac potestatem — The demonstrative pronoun `hoc` anticipates or stands in apposition with the following infinitive phrase `uerba earum tenere`. After `sed`, the infinitive `tenere` is omitted as a shared predicate (`sed uim ac potestatem [tenere]`).
Cite this passage
Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.17.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.17.pr
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