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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.10.34.pr

Individual Liability for Joint Injuries by Multiple Slaves

Passage 8036 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage states that when several slaves jointly commit an assault or insult, the wrongdoing is attributed individually to each slave, resulting in as many instances of injury as there are wrongdoers.

[GAIUS libro tertio decimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §47.10.34.prSi plures serui simul aliquem ceciderint aut conuicium alicui fecerint, singulorum proprium est maleficium et tanto maior iniuria, quanto a pluribus admissa est.
[GAIUS in the thirteenth book on the provincial edict.] If several slaves have beaten someone or committed an insult against someone at the same time, the wrongdoing is individual to each, and the injury is so much the greater, the more numerous those by whom it was committed.
immo etiam tot iniuriae sunt, quot et personae iniuriam facientium.
Nay indeed, there are as many injuries as there are persons of those committing the injury.

Notes

  1. §47.10.34.prsingulorum proprium est maleficium — singulorum (of each) is a genitive plural referring to the individual slaves. proprium is a predicate adjective agreeing with maleficium (wrongdoing, nominative neuter singular). This states that even in joint acts of violence, the wrongdoing (maleficium) is legally attributed individually to each slave, rather than as a single indivisible act.
  2. §47.10.34.prtanto maior iniuria, quanto a pluribus admissa est — tanto ... quanto is a correlative construction expressing degree ("by so much the more... by how much..."). The subject of the quanto clause is the omitted iniuria (injury), and the verb is admissa est (has been committed).
  3. §47.10.34.prpersonae iniuriam facientium — facientium is the genitive plural of the present participle faciens, functioning substantively ("of those committing [the injury]") to modify personae (persons, individuals). This establishes that the number of injuries corresponds to the number of individual wrongdoers.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.10.34.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.10.34.pr

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