Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.5.23.pr

Presumption of Prior Death of an Impuberal Son over the Mother

Passage 5287 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It describes the presumption of survivorship, stating that if a woman and her impuberal son die together in a shipwreck, the son is presumed to have died first.

[GAIUS libro quinto ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §34.5.23.prSi mulier cum filio impubere naufragio periit, priorem filium necatum esse intellegitur.
[GAIUS, from the fifth book on the Lex Julia et Papia.] If a woman perished in a shipwreck together with her impuberal son, it is understood that the son died first.

Notes

  1. §34.5.23.primpubere — Contrasted with pubere (adult / puberal) in the previous fragment (§34.5.22.pr). In Roman law, a male reached puberty (pubes) at fourteen, and before that he was considered impubes. This age distinction reverses the presumption of survivorship in common disasters.
  2. §34.5.23.prpriorem — Accusative masculine singular of the adjective prior (former, earlier). Here it modifies filium, the subject of the accusative-with-infinitive construction, and functions adverbially to mean "earlier" or "first" (i.e., before the mother).
  3. §34.5.23.prnecatum esse — Perfect passive infinitive of the verb neco (to kill, destroy). In this context, it does not imply active homicide by a person, but rather "to perish" or "to lose one's life" due to the shipwreck (naufragio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.5.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.5.23.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.