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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.15.1.pr-37.15.1.3

Duty of Respect for Parents and Punishment of Offending Children

Passage 5875 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage states that the duty of respect (pietas) towards parents must be maintained even for soldiers and co-freedmen, and that children who insult or abuse their parents are to be punished by the Prefect of the City or judged unworthy of military service.

[ULPIANUS libro primo opinionum. ] §37.15.1.prEtiam militibus pietatis ratio in parentes constare debet: quare si filius miles in patrem aliqua commisit, pro modo delicti puniendus est.
[ULPIANUS, from the first book of Opinions.] Even for soldiers, the principle of piety towards parents must be maintained; therefore, if a soldier son has committed any offense against his father, he must be punished according to the measure of the offense.
§37.15.1.1Et inter collibertos matrem et filium pietatis ratio secundum naturam salua esse debet.
And between a mother and a son who are co-freed slaves, the principle of piety according to nature must be kept intact.
§37.15.1.2Si filius matrem aut patrem, quos uenerari oportet, contumeliis adficit uel impias manus eis infert, praefectus urbis delictum ad publicam pietatem pertinens pro modo eius uindicat.
If a son insults his mother or father, whom he ought to revere, or lays impious hands upon them, the Prefect of the City shall punish this offense, which pertains to public piety, according to its gravity.
§37.15.1.3Indignus militia iudicandus est, qui patrem et matrem, a quibus se educatum dixerit, maleficos appellauerit.
He must be judged unworthy of military service who calls his father and mother, by whom he admitted he had been brought up, evildoers.

Notes

  1. §37.15.1.1inter collibertos matrem et filium — The preposition `inter` governs all the accusative nouns `collibertos`, `matrem`, and `filium`. Here `matrem et filium` stands in apposition to `collibertos`, meaning "the mother and son who are co-freed persons (slaves freed by the same patron)."
  2. §37.15.1.3a quibus se educatum dixerit — The verb `dixerit` (subjunctive perfect) in the relative clause indicates a subjective assertion ("he alleged/said"). It governs the accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction `se educatum [esse]`. The reflexive pronoun `se` refers back to the subject of `dixerit` (who is also the subject of the main clause, `qui`), and `educatum` agrees with it in gender, number, and case.
  3. §37.15.1.3indignus militia — The adjective `indignus` (unworthy) governs the ablative case (here `militia`, feminine singular ablative) to indicate the thing of which someone is unworthy. It means "unworthy of military service."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.15.1.pr-37.15.1.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.15.1.pr-37.15.1.3

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