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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §3.2.11.pr-3.2.11.4

Waiting Period for Remarriage and Penalties of Infamy

Passage 469 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus discusses that mourning for children or parents does not impede marriage, details the exceptions to the waiting period for remarriage after a husband's death (such as childbirth), and rules on the penalties of infamy imposed on those who marry or permit marriage during this legal period, even in cases of dishonorable deaths of husbands.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad edictum. ] §3.2.11.prLiberorum autem et parentium luctus impedimento nuptiis non est.
[ULPIANUS, in his Sixth Book on the Edict.] However, mourning for children or parents is not an impediment to marriage.
§3.2.11.1Etsi talis sit maritus, quem more maiorum lugeri non oportet, non posse eam nuptum intra legitimum tempus collocari: praetor enim ad id tempus se rettulit, quo uir elugeretur: qui solet elugeri propter turbationem sanguinis.
Even if the husband is of such a character that he ought not to be mourned according to the custom of our ancestors, she cannot be given in marriage within the legal period; for the praetor referred to that period during which a husband should be mourned, who is customarily mourned to prevent the confusion of blood.
§3.2.11.2Pomponius eam, quae intra legitimum tempus partum ediderit, putat statim posse nuptiis se collocare: quod uerum puto.
Pomponius thinks that a woman who has given birth within the legal period can marry immediately, which I believe to be correct.
§3.2.11.3Non solent autem lugeri, ut Neratius ait, hostes uel perduellionis damnati nec suspendiosi nec qui manus sibi intulerunt non taedio uitae, sed mala conscientia: si quis ergo post huiusmodi exitum mariti nuptum se collocauerit, infamia notabitur.
However, as Neratius says, it is not customary to mourn for public enemies, or those condemned for treason, or those who hanged themselves, or those who laid hands on themselves, not out of weariness of life, but because of a guilty conscience. Therefore, if any woman marries after such a death of her husband, she will be marked with infamy.
§3.2.11.4Notatur etiam 'qui eam duxit', sed si sciens: ignorantia enim excusatur non iuris, sed facti.
He who married her is also marked, but only if he did so knowingly; for ignorance of fact is excused, not ignorance of law.
excusatur qui iussu eius, in cuius potestate erat, duxerit, et ipse, qui passus est ducere, notatur, utrumque recte: nam et qui obtemperauit, uenia dignus est et qui passus est ducere, notari ignominia.
He who married her by the order of the person in whose power he was is excused, and the person himself who permitted him to marry is marked; both are correct, for he who obeyed is worthy of pardon, and he who permitted him to marry is rightly marked with ignominy.

Notes

  1. §3.2.11.primpedimento nuptiis — A double dative construction combining the dative of purpose (impedimento) and the dative of reference (nuptiis), meaning 'is not an impediment to marriage'.
  2. §3.2.11.1non posse eam nuptum — The word nuptum is the accusative supine of the intransitive verb nubo (to marry), used with the transitive verb collocare (to place, give) to express purpose ('to be given in marriage'). The accusative with infinitive clause (non posse...) without an explicit governing main verb reflects indirect speech reporting a legal rule, implying an omitted impersonal verb like 'it is held' or 'it is established'.
  3. §3.2.11.3non taedio uitae, sed mala conscientia — Both taedio and conscientia are ablatives of cause, contrasting the motivations for committing suicide (manus sibi intulerunt).
  4. §3.2.11.4notari ignominia — In the clause introduced by nam, the first part uses the indicative (dignus est), while the second part transitions into an accusative and infinitive construction, et qui passus est ducere, notari ignominia, implying a verb of necessity or suitability such as dignum est ('it is fitting that he be marked'). Ignominia is an ablative of instrument or cause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §3.2.11.pr-3.2.11.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:3.2.11.pr-3.2.11.4

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