Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.2.24.pr

Distinction between Marriage and Concubinage with a Free Woman

Passage 3330 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus states that cohabitation with a free woman should be understood as marriage, rather than concubinage, provided she has not made a living through prostitution.

[MODESTINUS libro primo regularum. ] §23.2.24.prIn liberae mulieris consuetudine non concubinatus, sed nuptiae intellegendae sunt, si non corpore quaestum fecerit.
[MODESTINUS in the first book of Rules.] In cohabitation with a free woman, if she has not made gain with her body, not concubinage, but marriage is to be understood.

Notes

  1. §23.2.24.printellegendae sunt — The gerundive intellegendae combined with sunt forms a passive periphrastic conjugation, expressing necessity or obligation ('are to be understood').
  2. §23.2.24.prcorpore quaestum fecerit — 'To make gain with the body,' an idiomatic expression meaning to engage in prostitution. The perfect tense (future perfect or subjunctive perfect) in the conditional clause (si) expresses a prior condition to the state described in the main clause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.2.24.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.2.24.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.