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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.4.25.pr

Penalties for Unlawfully Summoning a Patron

Passage 289 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It stipulates that if a freedman sues his patron without the edict's permission, upon the patron's complaint he must either pay the fifty-aurei penalty or, if impoverished, be punished by the prefect of the city as disrespectful.

[MODESTINUS libro primo de poenis. ] §2.4.25.prSi sine uenia edicti impetrata libertus patronum in ius uocauerit, ex querella patroni uel supradictam poenam, id est quinquaginta aureos dat uel a praefecto urbi quasi inofficiosus castigatur, si inopia dinoscitur laborare.
[MODESTINUS, in the first book on Penalties.] If a freedman, without having obtained the permission required by the edict, summons his patron to court, he either pays the above-mentioned penalty, that is, fifty aurei, upon the complaint of the patron, or, if he is found to suffer from poverty, is punished by the prefect of the city as one lacking in dutiful respect.

Notes

  1. §2.4.25.prsine uenia edicti impetrata — The preposition sine (without) governs the ablative noun uenia (permission). The perfect passive participle impetrata (obtained) agrees with uenia in gender, number, and case, functioning as 'without having obtained the permission (of the edict)' (similar to the 'ab urbe condita' construction).
  2. §2.4.25.prquasi inofficiosus — inofficiosus is a nominative masculine singular adjective, serving as a subject complement modifying the implied subject (the freedman) of the passive verb castigatur. It denotes someone who fails in their moral duty (officium) toward their patron.
  3. §2.4.25.prdinoscitur laborare — A nominative with infinitive construction. Instead of an impersonal expression, the freedman is the subject of the passive verb dinoscitur (he is recognized) and the active infinitive laborare (to suffer). inopia is an ablative of cause or means governed by laborare.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.4.25.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.4.25.pr

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