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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.7.pr

The Four Functions of Law by Modestinus

Passage 26 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus' definition of the four functions of law: commanding, forbidding, permitting, and punishing.

[MODESTINUS libro I regularum. ] §1.3.7.prLegis uirtus haec est imperare uetare permittere punire.
[MODESTINUS on Rules, Book I] The virtue of the law is this: to command, to forbid, to permit, to punish.

Notes

  1. §1.3.7.pruirtus — Here, "uirtus" does not mean moral virtue, but rather the "force," "effect," "power," or "function" of the law.
  2. §1.3.7.prhaec — A demonstrative pronoun in the feminine nominative singular, agreeing in gender and number with the subject "uirtus". It cataphorically points to the four following infinitives.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.7.pr

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