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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.11.1.pr-47.11.1.2

Penalties for Marriage Interference and Immoral Acts

Passage 8048 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section outlines the punishments for those who interfere with marriages, commit acts against public decency by defiling public areas, and attempt to corrupt minors or women, detailing penalties for both completed and attempted acts.

[PAULUS libro quinto sententiarum. ] §47.11.1.prSollicitatores alienarum nuptiarum itemque matrimoniorum interpellatores et si effectu sceleris potiri non possunt, propter uoluntatem perniciosae libidinis extra ordinem puniuntur.
[PAULUS, from the fifth book of Opinions.] Those who solicit the marriage of others, as well as those who disrupt marriages, even if they cannot achieve the execution of their crime, are punished extraordinarily on account of the intent of their pernicious lust.
§47.11.1.1Fit iniuria contra bonos mores, ueluti si quis fimo corrupto aliquem perfuderit, caeno luto oblinierit, aquas spurcauerit, fistulas lacus quidue aliud ad iniuriam publicam contaminauerit: in quos grauiter animaduerti solet.
An injury against good morals is committed, for example, if someone pours filthy dung over another, smears them with mud or clay, defiles waters, or contaminates water-pipes, reservoirs, or anything else to the public detriment; it is customary to punish such persons severely.
§47.11.1.2Qui puero stuprum abducto ab eo uel corrupto comite persuaserit aut mulierem puellamue interpellauerit quidue impudicitiae gratia fecerit, donum praebuerit pretiumue, quo is persuadeat, dederit: perfecto flagitio punitur capite, inperfecto in insulam deportatur: corrupti comites summo supplicio adficiuntur.
Anyone who persuades a boy to submit to debauchery, after having abducted or corrupted his companion, or who importunes a woman or a girl, or does anything for the sake of unchastity, or offers a gift, or gives a price in order to persuade them, is punished with death if the shameful act is completed, and is deported to an island if it is incomplete; the corrupted companions are punished with the extreme penalty.

Notes

  1. §47.11.1.preffectu — The verb potiri (to obtain, possess) typically governs the ablative case (here, effectu).
  2. §47.11.1.prextra ordinem — A legal technical term meaning 'extraordinarily' or 'outside the regular order,' referring to punishments decided outside the standard statutory procedures under the discretionary system (cognitio extra ordinem).
  3. §47.11.1.1in quos — A connecting relative pronoun referring to the perpetrators of the aforementioned wrongful acts. The idiom in aliquem animaduertere means 'to punish someone,' used here with the passive infinitive animaduerti in an impersonal construction.
  4. §47.11.1.2abducto ab eo uel corrupto comite — Ablative absolute constructions (abducto comite and corrupto comite), where ab eo (from him, i.e., the boy) modifies abducto. This indicates the circumstance under which the main action (persuaserit) takes place.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.11.1.pr-47.11.1.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.11.1.pr-47.11.1.2

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