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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.1.14.pr

Minimum Age and Capacity Required for Betrothal

Passage 3302 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage explains that while there is no strict age requirement for contracting a betrothal as there is for marriage, both parties must have reached the minimum age of seven to understand the nature of the act.

[MODESTINUS libro quarto differentiarum. ] §23.1.14.prIn sponsalibus contrahendis aetas contrahentium definita non est ut in matrimoniis.
[MODESTINUS, in the fourth book of Differences.] In contracting a betrothal, the age of the contracting parties is not defined as it is in marriages.
quapropter et a primordio aetatis sponsalia effici possunt, si modo id fieri ab utraque persona intellegatur, id est, si non sint minores quam septem annis.
For this reason, a betrothal can be contracted even from the earliest stage of life, provided that it is understood by both parties that this is being done, that is, if they are not less than seven years of age.

Notes

  1. §23.1.14.prid fieri ... intellegatur — id fieri is an accusative with infinitive construction, where id (referring to the betrothal being contracted) is the subject accusative and fieri is the passive infinitive. This clause serves as the subject of the passive verb intellegatur ("if it is understood by both parties that this is being done").
  2. §23.1.14.prminores quam septem annis — A construction in which the comparative minores is followed by both the comparative conjunction quam and the ablative septem annis (ablative of comparison or measure of difference). Normally, either quam is used with the same case as the preceding noun (here nominative), or the ablative of comparison is used without quam. Here, the two constructions are blended.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.1.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.1.14.pr

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