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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §24.2.9.pr

Requirement of Seven Witnesses for a Valid Divorce

Passage 3588 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus states that for a divorce to be valid, seven adult Roman citizens must be present as witnesses, excluding the husband's or wife's own freedman, and clarifies that "freedman" includes those manumitted by any paternal ascendants.

[PAULUS libro secundo de adulteris. ] §24.2.9.prNullum diuortium ratum est nisi septem ciuibus Romanis puberibus adhibitis praeter libertum eius qui diuortium faciet.
[PAULUS, in the second book on Adulteries.] No divorce is valid unless seven adult Roman citizens are present, apart from the freedman of the person who makes the divorce.
libertum accipiemus etiam eum, qui a patre auo proauo et ceteris susum uersum manumissus sit.
We shall also accept as a freedman one who has been manumitted by a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and others further back in the ascending line.

Notes

  1. §24.2.9.prpraeter libertum — The preposition praeter can be interpreted as either "excluding" (except) or "in addition to" (besides). In Roman law, seven witnesses (adult Roman citizens) were required for a divorce; this clause indicates that the freedman of the spouse initiating the divorce cannot be counted among these seven witnesses (exclusion), or that such a freedman must be present in addition to the seven witnesses (addition). In either case, the legal effect is that the freedman does not count toward the required seven witnesses.
  2. §24.2.9.prsusum uersum — An archaic or phonetic spelling of sursum versum, meaning "upwards" or "further back." Here it refers to the ascending line of ancestors (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §24.2.9.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:24.2.9.pr

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