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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.3.29.pr-22.3.29.1

Evidentiary Value of Letters and Truth in Filial Status

Passage 3247 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The chunk presents a rescript from the co-emperors stating that letters can hold the weight of written documents regarding a child's status if they are authentic, followed by Scaevola's response that the truth prevails even if an angry mother registered her child as illegitimate.

[SCAEUOLA libro nono digestorum. ] §22.3.29.prImperatores Antoninus et Uerus Augusti Claudio Apolinari rescripserunt in haec uerba: 'Probationes, quae de filiis dantur, non in sola adfirmatione testium consistunt, sed et epistulas, quae uxoribus missae allegarentur, si de fide eorum constet, nonnullam uicem instrumentorum optinere decretum est'. §22.3.29.1Mulier grauida repudiata, filium enixa, absente marito ut spurium in actis professa est.
[SCAEUOLA from the ninth book of the Digests.] The Emperors Antoninus and Verus, the Augusti, replied to Claudius Apollinaris in these words: "The proofs which are presented concerning children do not consist solely in the oral assertion of witnesses, but it has also been decreed that letters which are alleged to have been sent to wives, if their authenticity is established, hold to some extent the place of written instruments." A pregnant woman, having been divorced, gave birth to a son, and in the absence of her husband registered him in the public records as illegitimate.
quaesitum est an is in potestate patris sit et matre intestata mortua iussu eius hereditatem matris adire possit nec obsit professio a matre irata facta.
The question was asked whether he is in the power of his father, and whether, upon the mother dying intestate, he can enter upon the inheritance of his mother by the command of his father, and whether the registration made by the angry mother is not an obstacle.
respondit, ueritati locum superfore.
He replied that there would still be room for the truth.

Notes

  1. 22.3.29.prepistulas, quae ... optinere decretum est — The accusative with infinitive clause 'epistulas... optinere' functions as the subject of the impersonal passive verb 'decretum est' ('it has been decreed that...').
  2. 22.3.29.1iussu eius — The pronoun 'eius' refers to the preceding 'patris'. This reflects the legal background in Roman law where a child under paternal power (patria potestas) had to enter upon an inheritance (adire) by the command (iussus) of the paterfamilias.
  3. 22.3.29.1ueritati locum superfore — 'superfore' is the contracted form of the future infinitive 'superfuturum esse' of 'supersum' (to remain, survive). This forms an accusative with infinitive clause indicating that the actual truth (legitimacy) prevails over false registration, meaning there remains room for the truth to be established.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.3.29.pr-22.3.29.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.3.29.pr-22.3.29.1

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