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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.4.4.pr-2.4.4.3

Summons Exemptions and Restrictions Regarding Parents and Patrons

Passage 268 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

After listing additional persons who cannot be summoned to court (litigants, madmen, infants), the text presents the Praetorian edict on summoning parents and patrons, discussing the scope of 'parents' and its application to those born in slavery or out of wedlock.

[ULPIANUS libro quinto ad edictum. ] §2.4.4.prquique litigandi causa necesse habet in iure uel certo loco sisti: nec furiosos uel infantes.
[ULPIAN, in the fifth book on the Edict.] and anyone who, for the purpose of litigation, has a necessity to be produced in court or in a certain place; nor madmen or infants.
§2.4.4.1Praetor ait: 'parentem, patronum patronam, liberos parentes patroni patronae in ius sine permissu meo ne quis uocet’. §2.4.4.2Parentem hic utriusque sexus accipe: sed an in infinitum, quaeritur.
The Praetor says: 'Let no one summon to court a parent, a patron, a patroness, or the children and parents of a patron or patroness, without my permission.' Understand 'parent' here as of either sex; but it is questioned whether this goes on to infinity.
quidam parentem usque ad tritauum appellari aiunt, superiores maiores dici: hoc ueteres existimasse Pomponius refert: sed Gaius Cassius omnes in infinitum parentes dicit, quod et honestius est et merito optinuit.
Some say that 'parent' is the term used up to the great-great-great-grandfather, and those above them are called 'ancestors'; Pomponius reports that the ancients held this opinion. But Gaius Cassius says that all ancestors to infinity are called 'parents,' which is both more honorable and has deservedly prevailed.
§2.4.4.3Parentes etiam eos accipi Labeo existimat, qui in seruitute susceperunt: nec tamen, ut Seuerus dicebat, ad solos iustos liberos: sed et si uolgo quaesitus sit filius, matrem in ius non uocabit,
Labeo thinks that those also are to be accepted as parents who begot children while in slavery; nor, however, as Severus used to say, does this apply to legitimate children alone: but even if a son is born out of wedlock, he shall not summon his mother to court.

Notes

  1. §2.4.4.prquique — This is the relative pronoun 'qui' with the conjunction '-que', continuing the subject of those who 'ought not to be summoned to court' from the preceding sections (2.4.2.pr and 2.4.3.pr). Reading it as the nominative of 'quisque' (each) is syntactically less fitting given the parallel structures.
  2. §2.4.4.prsisti — The present passive infinitive of the verb 'sisto' (to cause to stand, produce in court), serving as the complement of the impersonal expression 'necesse habet' (has a necessity to). Here it refers to being produced in court or in a certain place by a surety or by legal obligation.
  3. §2.4.4.1liberos parentes patroni patronae — A parallel structure with asyndeton, analyzed as '(liberos [et] parentes) (patroni [et] patronae)', meaning 'the children and parents of a patron or patroness.' All these terms function as either direct objects (accusative) of 'uocet' or possessive genitives modifying them.
  4. §2.4.4.2an in infinitum — This forms an indirect question introduced by 'an' after the impersonal passive 'quaeritur' (it is questioned), with the predicate verb of the clause (such as 'sit' or 'pertineat') being omitted.
  5. §2.4.4.3uolgo quaesitus — Literally 'begotten of the public/at large,' this is a legal idiom in Roman law meaning 'born out of wedlock' or 'illegitimate.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.4.4.pr-2.4.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.4.4.pr-2.4.4.3

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