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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §11.7.44.pr

Consecration of the Burial Place of the Head and Its Loss

Passage 1848 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus argues that if parts of a body are buried in different places, only the place where the principal part, namely the head, is buried becomes legally religious, and that a place ceases to be religious once permission to transfer the remains is granted.

[PAULUS libro tertio quaestionum. ] §11.7.44.prCum in diuersis locis sepultum est, uterque quidem locus religiosus non fit, quia una sepultura plura sepulchra efficere non potest: mihi autem uideatur illum religiosum esse, ubi quod est principale conditum est, id est caput, cuius imago fit, inde cognoscimur.
[PAULUS, Questions, book 3] When burial has taken place in different places, indeed both places do not become religious, because one burial cannot make several tombs. But it seems to me that that place is religious where what is principal has been buried, that is, the head, of which a likeness is made and by which we are recognized.
cum autem impetratur, ut reliquiae transferantur, desinit locus religiosus esse.
But when permission is obtained for the remains to be transferred, the place ceases to be religious.

Notes

  1. §11.7.44.pruideatur — Present subjunctive of the verb uideo. It is used here as a potential subjunctive (subjunctive of modest assertion) to express the author's opinion in a tentative, non-categorical manner.
  2. §11.7.44.prcuius imago fit, inde cognoscimur — The genitive relative pronoun cuius refers back to its antecedent caput (head). The adverb inde means 'thence', 'from that source', or 'thereby', explaining that the head is the part from which a portrait is made and by which individuals are recognized.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §11.7.44.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:11.7.44.pr

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