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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.2.pr

Definitions of Law by Demosthenes and Chrysippus

Passage 21 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Quotes the definitions of law by Demosthenes and Chrysippus, demonstrating that law has a divine origin and serves as the standard of right and wrong to govern human conduct.

[MARCIANUS libro primo institutionum. ] §1.3.2.prNam et Demosthenes orator sic definit: τοῦτό ἐστιν νόμος, ᾧ πάντας ἀνθρώπους προσήκει πείθεσθαι διὰ πολλά, καὶ μάλιστα ὅτι πᾶς ἐστὶν νόμος εὓρημα μὲν καὶ δῶρον θεοῦ, δόγμα δὲ ἀνθρώπων φρονίμων, ἐπανόρθωμα δὲ τῶν ἑκουσίων καὶ ἀκουσίων ἁμαρτημάτων, πόλεως δὲ συνθήκη κοινή, καθ᾿ ἣν ἃπασι προσήκει ζῇν τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει. sed et philosophus summae stoicae sapientiae Chrysippus sic incipit libro, quem fecit περὶ νόμου: ὁ νόμος πάντων ἐστὶ βασιλεὺς θείων τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων· δεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν προστάτην τε εἶναι τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῶν αἰσχρῶν καὶ ἄρχοντα καὶ ἡγεμόνα, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο κανόνα τε εἶναι δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων καὶ τῶν φύσει πολιτικῶν ζῴων προστακτικὸν μὲν ὧν ποιητέον, ἀπαγορευτικὸν δὲ ὧν οὐ ποιητέον.
For even the orator Demosthenes defines it thus: "This is law, which it is fitting for all men to obey for many reasons, and especially because every law is a discovery and gift of God, a decree of wise men, a correction of voluntary and involuntary transgressions, and a common agreement of the state, according to which it is fitting for all those in the state to live." But also the philosopher Chrysippus, of the highest Stoic wisdom, begins thus in the book which he wrote "On Law": "Law is the king of all things divine and human; and it must be the protector, ruler, and leader of what is honorable and what is base, and according to this, be the standard of what is just and unjust, prescribing to animals which are by nature social what they ought to do, and forbidding what they ought not to do."

Notes

  1. §1.3.2.pr — The relative pronoun `ᾧ` is in the dative case because the verb `πείθεσθαι` (to obey) governs the dative, and its antecedent is the preceding `νόμος`.
  2. §1.3.2.prτῶν φύσει πολιτικῶν ζῴων — This genitive phrase depends on the adjectives `προστακτικόν` (prescribing) and `ἀπαγορευτικόν` (forbidding), indicating the objects or recipients of the prescription and prohibition ("for/to animals which are by nature social").
  3. §1.3.2.prὧν ποιητέον — `ὧν` is a relative pronoun in the genitive containing its antecedent (equivalent to `τούτων ἅ`), governed by the adjective `προστακτικόν`. `ποιητέον` is the neuter singular of the verbal adjective (impersonal construction), meaning "what must be done."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.2.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.2.pr

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