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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.2.11.pr

Marriage of Children Before Father's Three-Year Absence

Passage 3317 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Julianus' view that the marriage of a child whose father is a captive of the enemy or absent is validly contracted even before the lapse of three years, provided it is certain that the father would not have rejected the spouse's status.

[IULIANUS libro sexagesimo secundo digestorum. ] §23.2.11.prSi filius eius qui apud hostes est uel absit ante triennium captiuitatis uel absentiae patris uxorem duxit uel si filia nupserit, puto recte matrimonium uel nuptias contrahi, dummodo eam filius ducat uxorem uel filia tali nubat, cuius condicionem certum sit patrem non repudiaturum.
[JULIANUS in the sixty-second book of the Digests.] If the son of one who is in the hands of the enemy or is absent has married a wife before the lapse of three years of his father’s captivity or absence, or if the daughter has married, I think that the marriage or nuptials are rightly contracted, provided that the son marries such a woman, or the daughter marries such a man, whose status it is certain that the father would not have rejected.

Notes

  1. §23.2.11.prante triennium captiuitatis uel absentiae patris — Meaning "before the three years of the father's captivity or absence." In contrast to the rule in the preceding fragment (10.pr) allowing marriage after three years, this presents an exceptional permissive condition for marriage even before three years have elapsed, provided the partner's status is suitable.
  2. §23.2.11.prcuius condicionem certum sit patrem non repudiaturum — certum sit is an impersonal subjunctive present (within the conditional clause introduced by dummodo), taking the accusative with infinitive clause patrem non repudiaturum [esse] cuius condicionem ("that the father would not reject whose status") as its subject, forming a double subordinate structure. The relative pronoun cuius refers back to the antecedents eam and tali, modifying condicionem within its clause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.2.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.2.11.pr

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