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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.6.29.pr

Pupillary Substitution for Father and Son Dying in Captivity

Passage 4301 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Scaevola discusses the conditions under which the Cornelian law applies to the substitution of an impuberal son when both the father and the son are captured and die in enemy territory.

[SCAEUOLA libro quinto decimo quaestionum. ] §28.6.29.prSi pater captus sit ab hostibus, mox filius et ibi ambo decedant, quamuis prior pater decedat, lex Cornelia ad pupilli substitutionem non pertinebit, nisi reuersus in ciuitate impubes decedat, quoniam et si ambo in ciuitate decessissent, ueniret substitutus.
[SCAEVOLA, Book 15 of Questions.]\n\nIf a father is captured by the enemy, and soon afterwards his son, and both die there, even though the father dies first, the Cornelian law will not apply to the substitution of the pupillus, unless, having returned, he dies in the state while still impuberal, because even if both had died in the state, the substitute would have succeeded.

Notes

  1. §28.6.29.prquamuis prior pater decedat — A concessive clause meaning "even though the father dies first." The conjunction 'quamuis' is used with the subjunctive (here, the present subjunctive 'decedat') to express concession.
  2. §28.6.29.prreuersus — Perfect participle of the deponent verb revertor ("to return") with active meaning, agreeing in gender, number, and case (masculine singular nominative) with the implied subject of the clause (the son, 'filius'). It functions adverbially, modifying 'decedat'.
  3. §28.6.29.prdecessissent, ueniret — A mixed counterfactual conditional sentence inside the causal clause starting with 'quoniam'. The protasis ('decessissent') is in the pluperfect subjunctive (past counterfactual), whereas the apodosis ('ueniret') is in the imperfect subjunctive, indicating a continuous state or an ongoing consequence that would arise in the hypothetical situation.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.6.29.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.6.29.pr

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