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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.1.12.pr

Scope of Municipal Magistrates' Chastisement over Slaves

Passage 251 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section rules that municipal magistrates do not have the authority to inflict capital punishment on slaves, but they must be allowed the power to administer moderate chastisement.

[ULPIANUS libro octauo decimo ad edictum. ] §2.1.12.prMagistratibus municipalibus supplicium a seruo sumere non licet, modica autem castigatio eis non est deneganda.
[ULPIANUS on the edict, book eighteenth.] It is not allowed for municipal magistrates to inflict capital punishment on a slave, but moderate chastisement must not be denied to them.

Notes

  1. §2.1.12.prsupplicium a seruo sumere — The phrase supplicium sumere ab aliquo is an idiomatic expression meaning "to inflict capital punishment on someone," where a seruo (from a slave) indicates the recipient of the punishment.
  2. §2.1.12.preis — A pronoun in the dative case. It refers back to the magistratibus municipalibus (municipal magistrates) in the preceding clause, functioning as the dative object of the gerundive deneganda ("to them").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.1.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.1.12.pr

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