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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.2.34.pr-23.2.34.3

Paternal Consent, Remarriage, and Stepchildren

Passage 3340 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses the necessity of paternal consent for a daughter's marriage, the remarriage of a wife accused of adultery, the validity of marriage between stepchildren, and the effect of a father's loss of status on a senator's daughter's marriage restrictions.

[PAPINIANUS libro quarto responsorum. ] §23.2.34.prGenerali mandato quaerendi mariti filiae familias non fieri nuptias rationis est: itaque personam eius patri demonstrari, qui matrimonio consenserit, ut nuptiae contrahantur, necesse est.
[PAPINIANUS, in the fourth book of Opinions.] It is reasonable that a marriage is not contracted by a general mandate to seek a husband for a daughter under paternal power; therefore, it is necessary that his identity be shown to the father, who is to consent to the marriage, so that the marriage may be contracted.
§23.2.34.1Ream adulterii, quam uir iure mariti postulauit, non prohibetur post abolitionem uxorem denuo ducere: sed et si non iure mariti ream postulauit, iure contractum matrimonium uidebitur.
A husband is not prohibited, after a dismissal of the charge, from marrying again a woman accused of adultery whom he prosecuted by his right as a husband; but even if he prosecuted her as accused not by his right as a husband, the marriage will be deemed to have been lawfully contracted.
§23.2.34.2Inter priuignos contrahi nuptiae possunt, etsi fratrem communem ex nouo parentium matrimonio susceptum habeant.
Marriage can be contracted between stepchildren, even if they have a common brother born of the new marriage of their parents.
§23.2.34.3Filiam senatoris nuptias libertini secutam patris casus non faciat uxorem: nam quaesita dignitas liberis propter crimen patris auferenda non est.
The downfall of a father does not make a senator's daughter, who has entered into a marriage with a freedman, a wife; for the dignity acquired by children is not to be taken away on account of a crime of their father.

Notes

  1. §23.2.34.prrationis est — Predicative use of the genitive (genitive of characteristic), meaning 'it is reasonable' or 'it is consistent with reason'.
  2. §23.2.34.prpatri demonstrari, qui — The antecedent of the relative pronoun qui is patri (dative), serving as the subject (nominative) within the relative clause. Thus, it means 'to be indicated to the father, who must consent to the marriage'.
  3. §23.2.34.1Ream adulterii... non prohibetur uxorem denuo ducere — The implied subject of the passive verb prohibetur (third-person singular) is the husband (uir) mentioned in the relative clause. The accusative phrase ream adulterii placed at the beginning of the sentence functions as the grammatical object of the infinitive phrase uxorem denuo ducere.
  4. §23.2.34.3nuptias libertini secutam — The perfect participle secutam (accusative feminine singular) of the deponent verb sequor modifies filiam senatoris, active in meaning, 'having entered into' or 'having pursued a marriage with a freedman'.
  5. §23.2.34.3patris casus non faciat uxorem — A double accusative construction, meaning 'the downfall of the father does not make her a [lawful] wife'. The present subjunctive faciat expresses a hypothetical or general assertion.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.2.34.pr-23.2.34.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.2.34.pr-23.2.34.3

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