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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.2.58.pr

Marriage of a Senator and a Fraudulent Freedwoman

Passage 3364 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It records a rescript of the deified Pius stating that if a freedwoman deceives a senator into marriage by pretending to be freeborn, an action should be granted against her because the void dowry yields no profit to the husband.

[MARCIANUS libro quarto regularum. ] §23.2.58.prA diuo Pio rescriptum est, si libertina senatorem deceperit quasi ingenua et ei nupta est, ad exemplum praetoris edicti dandam in eam actionem, quia ex dote nullum lucrum habet quae nulla est.
[MARCIANUS, in the fourth book of his Rules.] It was replied by rescript by the deified Pius that, if a freedwoman should deceive a senator as if she were freeborn and marry him, an action should be granted against her after the example of the praetor's edict, because he derives no profit from a dowry which is void.

Notes

  1. §23.2.58.prdandam in eam actionem — An accusative-with-infinitive clause serving as the subject of the impersonal passive main verb `rescriptum est`, with `esse` omitted (comprising the subject accusative `actionem` and the future passive participle `dandam`). `in eam` means 'against her', referring to the deceiving freedwoman.
  2. §23.2.58.prhabet — The subject of this verb is not explicitly stated in the text but refers in context to the deceived husband (the `senator`). Because the marriage itself is void (nulla), the husband cannot derive any legal profit (lucrum) from the dowry (dos), which is why a special action against her is granted.
  3. §23.2.58.prquae nulla est — The relative pronoun `quae` has the feminine singular noun `dote` as its antecedent. Thus, it translates to 'which [the dowry] is void'. This signifies that the dowry arising from a void marriage is legally non-existent (nulla).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.2.58.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.2.58.pr

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