Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.11.10.pr

Penalties for Damaging Nile Embankments in Egypt

Passage 8057 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Describes the strict extraordinary punishments, varying by social status, for destroying Nile embankments or cutting down the trees that support them in Egypt.

[IDEM eodem libro. ] §47.11.10.prIn Aegypto qui chomata rumpit uel dissoluit (hi sunt aggeres, qui quidem solent aquam Niloticam continere), aeque plectitur extra ordinem: et pro condicione sua et pro admissi mensura quidam opere publico, alii autem metallo plectuntur, et metallo quidem secundum suam dignitatem.
[THE SAME, from the same book.] In Egypt, whoever breaks or destroys chomata (these are embankments which are accustomed to contain the water of the Nile) is likewise punished extraordinarily; and in proportion both to his own condition and to the measure of the offense, some are punished with public labor, others with the mines, and indeed with the mines according to their rank.
si quis arborem sycaminonem exciderit, nam et haec res uindicatur extra ordinem non leui poena, idcirco quod hae arbores colligunt aggeres Niloticos, per quos incrementa Nili dispensantur et coercentur.
If anyone cuts down a sycamine tree—for this act is also punished extraordinarily with no light penalty—it is because these trees hold together the embankments of the Nile, through which the rising waters of the Nile are distributed and controlled.
et deminutiones aeque coercentur: chomata etiam et diacopi, qui in aggeribus fiunt, plecti efficiunt eos, qui id admiserint.
And reductions are likewise punished; even excavations and breaches which are made in the embankments cause those who committed them to be punished.

Notes

  1. 47.11.10.prchomata — Although chomata appears twice in this chunk, in the first instance it is defined as 'hi sunt aggeres' (these are embankments), whereas in the last instance it refers to something done to the embankments ('qui in aggeribus fiunt'), indicating excavations or modifications.
  2. 47.11.10.prsi quis arborem sycaminonem exciderit — There is no direct main clause (apodosis) answering the conditional clause 'si quis ... exciderit'. Instead, after the parenthetical 'nam' clause, it connects directly to 'idcirco quod' (for the reason that), creating an anacoluthon. One must supply the missing consequence (e.g., 'he is punished') to complete the sense.
  3. 47.11.10.prplecti efficiunt eos — Instead of the standard 'efficere ut' construction, 'efficere' is here used with an accusative and infinitive ('eos plecti'), meaning 'they cause them to be punished' (i.e., bring punishment upon them).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.11.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.11.10.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.