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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.2.5.pr

Definition of Fear as Apprehension of Greater Harm

Passage 642 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian quotes the jurist Labeo to define "fear" in a legal sense, limiting it to the apprehension of a greater evil rather than just any general apprehension.

[ULPIANUS libro undecimo ad edictum. ] §4.2.5.prMetum accipiendum Labeo dicit non quemlibet timorem, sed maioris malitatis.
[ULPIAN, On the Edict, book 11] Labeo says that fear is to be understood not as any apprehension whatsoever, but as that of a greater evil.

Notes

  1. §4.2.5.praccipiendum — A gerundive forming a passive periphrastic infinitive with `esse` omitted (`accipiendum esse`), expressing obligation or necessity. It serves as the predicate in the accusative-with-infinitive (AcI) construction governed by the main verb `dicit`, with the accusative `metum` as its subject.
  2. §4.2.5.prmaioris malitatis — A genitive of quality, or a genitive modifying an implied noun `timorem`. The word `malitas` (wickedness, badness) here functions in a legal sense to denote a "greater evil" or "serious harm".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.2.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.2.5.pr

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