[MARCELLUS libro tertio digestorum. ] §22.3.10.prCensus et monumenta publica potiora testibus esse senatus censuit.
[MARCELLUS, in the third book of the Digests.] The senate decreed that censuses and public records are more powerful than witnesses.
Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.3.10.pr
Superiority of Public Records over Witnesses
Summary
The senate decided that censuses and public records possess greater evidentiary value than the testimony of witnesses.
Notes
- §22.3.10.prpotiora — Accusative neuter plural of the comparative adjective potior (more powerful), functioning as the predicate in the accusative-and-infinitive construction with esse. Although the subjects are Census (masculine accusative plural) and monumenta (neuter accusative plural), the adjective takes the neuter plural form in accordance with the rule that predicate adjectives referring to inanimate nouns of different genders are neuter plural.
- §22.3.10.prtestibus — Ablative of comparison used with the comparative potiora, meaning 'than witnesses'. Thus, potiora testibus esse translates as 'to be more powerful than witnesses'.
Cite this passage
Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.3.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.3.10.pr
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