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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.9.8.pr

Deferral of Accusation of Adultery to Protect the Child

Passage 5813 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It conveys a rescript of the Emperor Hadrian stating that if a woman is put into possession of goods on behalf of an unborn child, the accusation of adultery against her must be deferred until the child is born to prevent any prejudice to the child.

[PAULUS libro primo de adulteris. ] §37.9.8.prSi uentris nomine mulier missa sit in possessionem, diuus Hadrianus Calpurnio Flacco differendam accusationem adulterii rescripsit, ne quod praeiudicium fieret nato.
[PAULUS, on Adultery, book 1] If a woman has been put into possession on behalf of a unborn child, the deified Hadrian replied by rescript to Calpurnius Flaccus that the accusation of adultery ought to be deferred, lest any prejudice should be done to the child when born.

Notes

  1. §37.9.8.prdifferendam accusationem — An accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of rescripsit, where esse is omitted with the gerundive differendam which agrees with the accusative subject accusationem. It means 'replied that the accusation of adultery ought to be deferred'.
  2. §37.9.8.prnato — The dative singular masculine of the perfect participle natus (from nascor, 'to be born'), used substantively to mean 'the child when born'. It functions as a dative of disadvantage or reference with praeiudicium ('prejudice' or 'prior judgment'). Since a mother's conviction for adultery would negatively affect the child's status, the trial had to be deferred.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.9.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.9.8.pr

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