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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §21.1.42.pr

Penalties for Keeping Dangerous Animals in Passages

Passage 3058 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian quotes the Edict of the Curule Aediles prohibiting the keeping of dangerous animals in public passages, specifying the penalties for violation: two hundred solidi for the death of a free man, a judge-assessed sum for injury to a free man, and double the amount of damage for other cases.

[ULPIANUS libro secundo ad edictum aedilium curulium. ] §21.1.42.pr'qua uulgo iter fiet, ita habuisse uelit, ut cuiquam nocere damnumue dare possit.
[ULPIAN in the second book on the Edict of the Curule Aediles.] 'No one shall keep [such an animal] where there is common passage, in such a manner that it can do harm or cause damage to anyone.
si aduersus ea factum erit et homo liber ex ea re perierit, solidi ducenti, si nocitum homini libero esse dicetur, quanti bonum aequum iudici uidebitur, condemnetur, ceterarum rerum, quanti damnum datum factumue sit, dupli'.
If action is taken contrary to these provisions, and a free man dies as a result, [the penalty shall be] two hundred solidi; if it is alleged that injury has been done to a free man, the offender shall be condemned to pay such an amount as seems good and fair to the judge; for all other things, he shall be condemned in double the amount of the damage caused or done.'

Notes

  1. §21.1.42.pruelit — A subjunctive verb indicating prohibition. Taking its subject from `ne quis` (let no one) in the opening of the Aediles' Edict (D. 21.1.40.pr), it forms a prohibitive command: 'no one shall keep [the animal]'. The accompanying perfect infinitive `habuisse` is frequently used in legal formulas instead of the present infinitive to emphasize the prohibition.
  2. §21.1.42.prnocitum homini libero esse — An impersonal passive construction. Since the intransitive verb `noceo` (to do harm) governs the dative, it can only be used impersonally in the passive voice. Thus, `homini libero` remains in the dative (to a free man), and `nocitum esse` forms an impersonal passive infinitive phrase ('that harm has been done') acting as the subject of the passive verb `dicetur`.
  3. §21.1.42.prquanti ... dupli — Genitives of value and penalty. `quanti` is a genitive of value ('for how much') specifying the amount of the penalty for `condemnetur` ('he shall be condemned'). Similarly, `dupli` is a genitive of penalty ('in double'), meaning the offender is condemned to pay double the estimated value of the damage (`quanti damnum... sit`).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §21.1.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:21.1.42.pr

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