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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.2.13.pr

Decree of Marcus Aurelius on Self-Help and Forfeiture

Passage 650 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Callistratus quotes the famous decree of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Decretum Divi Marci), which establishes that pursuing self-help to recover debts without judicial process constitutes force and results in the forfeiture of the creditor's claim.

[CALLISTRATUS libro quinto de cognitionibus. ] §4.2.13.prExstat enim decretum diui Marci in haec uerba: 'Optimum est, ut, si quas putas te habere petitiones, actionibus experiaris.
[CALLISTRATUS, on Extraordinary Proceedings, Book V.] For there exists a decree of the Divine Marcus in these words: 'It is best that, if you think you have any claims, you should try them by actions.
cum Marcianus diceret: uim nullam feci, Caesar dixit: tu uim putas esse solum, si homines uulnerentur? uis est et tunc, quotiens quis id, quod deberi sibi putat, non per iudicem reposcit? quisquis igitur probatus mihi fuerit rem ullam debitoris uel pecuniam debitam non ab ipso sibi sponte datam sine ullo iudice temere possidere uel accepisse, isque sibi ius in eam rem dixisse: ius crediti non habebit'.
When Marcian said: "I used no force," Caesar said: "Do you think that force is used only if people are wounded? Is there not force also on every occasion when anyone demands back, otherwise than through a judge, what he thinks is owed to him? Whoever, therefore, shall be proved to me to possess or to have accepted, without any trial, rashly, any thing belonging to his debtor or money owed, which was not voluntarily given to him by the debtor himself, and to have declared the law for himself in that matter, shall not have the right of credit."'

Notes

  1. §4.2.13.prsi quas putas te habere petitiones — The word 'quas' is an indefinite adjective used instead of 'aliquas' after the conditional particle 'si', modifying 'petitiones' (claims). 'te habere' is an accusative with infinitive (ACI) construction serving as the object of 'putas', with 'te' (you) as the subject of the infinitive.
  2. §4.2.13.prprobatus mihi fuerit ... possidere uel accepisse, isque ... dixisse — The future perfect passive verb 'probatus fuerit' agrees with the subject 'quisquis'. The infinitives 'possidere uel accepisse' and 'dixisse' depend on it in a nominative with infinitive (NCI) construction, forming the conditional clause ('whoever shall be proved to me to have...'). The enclitic '-que' connects the two infinitive clauses.
  3. §4.2.13.prsibi ius in eam rem dixisse — The phrase 'ius dicere' (to declare the law, to administer justice) is a standard legal formula referring to the official authority of a magistrate. Here, accompanied by 'sibi' (for oneself), it is used ironically to describe and condemn 'self-help'—the act of a private individual taking the law into their own hands without recourse to public judicial procedures.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.2.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.2.13.pr

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