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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.38.pr

Binding Force of Written Words and Their Meaning

Passage 7323 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is stated that binding force resides not in the physical shape of the letters but in the meaning they express, and that written expression is no less valid than spoken words.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad edictum. ] §44.7.38.prNon figura litterarum, sed oratione, quam exprimunt litterae, obligamur, quatenus placuit non minus ualere, quod scriptura, quam quod uocibus lingua figuratis significaretur.
[PAULUS, from his third book on the Edict of the Praetor.] We are bound not by the shape of the letters, but by the expression which the letters represent, inasmuch as it has been accepted that what is signified by writing has no less force than what is signified by sounds formed by the tongue.

Notes

  1. §44.7.38.prquatenus placuit — The conjunction quatenus here introduces a causal or restrictive reason, meaning 'inasmuch as' or 'insofar as'. The impersonal verb placuit signifies that something 'has been accepted' or 'is agreed upon' as a legal principle.
  2. §44.7.38.prnon minus ualere, quod scriptura, quam quod uocibus lingua figuratis significaretur — An accusative and infinitive clause serving as the subject of the impersonal placuit. The subject of ualere consists of the noun clauses introduced by the relative pronoun quod containing its antecedent ('what is signified...'). uocibus lingua figuratis ('sounds formed by the tongue') refers to spoken language, contrasted with the ablative of instrument scriptura ('by writing').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.38.pr

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