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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.9.8.pr

Senatorial Status of Wives and Daughters

Passage 167 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus discusses how women married to senators (the most distinguished persons) share their status, and explains the rules regarding the duration of this status for daughters of senators and the effect of their subsequent marriage.

[IDEM libro sexto fideicommissorum. ] §1.9.8.prFeminae nuptae clarissimis personis clarissimarum personarum appellatione continentur.
[THE SAME, On Trust-bequests, book 6] Women married to most distinguished persons are included under the designation of "most distinguished persons".
clarissimarum feminarum nomine senatorum filiae, nisi quae uiros clarissimos sortitae sunt, non habentur: feminis enim dignitatem clarissimam mariti tribuunt, parentes uero, donec plebeii nuptiis fuerint copulatae: tamdiu igitur clarissima femina erit, quamdiu senatori nupta est uel clarissimo aut separata ab eo alii inferioris dignitatis non nupsit.
The daughters of senators, unless they have obtained most distinguished husbands, are not held under the name of "most distinguished women"; for husbands bestow the most distinguished dignity upon women, but parents do so indeed only until they have been joined in marriage with a plebeian. Therefore, she will be a most distinguished woman so long as she is married to a senator, that is, a most distinguished man, or, having been separated from him, has not married another of inferior dignity.

Notes

  1. 1.9.8.prnisi quae uiros clarissimos sortitae sunt — quae is a relative pronoun in the nominative plural feminine, acting substantively ("those who") with the antecedent filiae implied. The verb sortiri (originally "to obtain by lot") is used here in the legal sense of acquiring a spouse.
  2. 1.9.8.prparentes uero, donec plebeii nuptiis fuerint copulatae — After parentes uero, the phrase dignitatem clarissimam tribuunt is omitted from the preceding clause. plebeii is the genitive singular of the noun plebeius (a plebeian), modifying nuptiis (marriage, ablative of means), meaning "marriage with a plebeian".
  3. 1.9.8.prseparata ab eo alii inferioris dignitatis non nupsit — separata is a perfect passive participle agreeing with the subject (femina), expressing time or condition ("after being separated from him"). alii is the dative governed by nubere, modified by the genitive of quality inferioris dignitatis ("of inferior dignity").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.9.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.9.8.pr

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