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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.11.7.pr

Aggravated Penalties for Cutpurses and Housebreakers

Passage 8054 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text defines purse-snatchers and housebreakers, stating that they must be punished more severely than ordinary thieves, with penalties such as temporary public labor, beating, or temporary relegation.

[IDEM libro nono de officio proconsulis. ] §47.11.7.prSaccularii, qui uetitas in sacculos artes exercentes partem subducunt, partem subtrahunt, item qui derectarii appellantur, hoc est hi, qui in aliena cenacula se dirigunt furandi animo, plus quam fures puniendi sunt: idcircoque aut ad tempus in opus dantur publicum, aut fustibus castigantur et dimittuntur, aut ad tempus relegantur.
[THE SAME, from the ninth book On the Office of Proconsul.] Purse-snatchers, who, practicing forbidden tricks upon purses, secretly withdraw a part and take away a part, as well as those who are called housebreakers, that is, those who direct themselves into others' upper rooms with the intention of stealing, must be punished more severely than ordinary thieves; and therefore they are either sentenced to public labor for a time, or chastised with rods and dismissed, or relegated for a time.

Notes

  1. §47.11.7.prSaccularii — Derived from Latin sacculus (a small bag or purse), referring to purse-snatchers who steal from purses or those who use illicit tricks involving bags. Its action is explained by the following phrase 'in sacculos artes exercentes' (practicing tricks upon purses).
  2. §47.11.7.prderectarii — Refers to housebreakers (especially those invading upper rooms or apartments, cenacula), derived from 'directing oneself' (se dirigere) straight into others' homes. The text itself provides an etymological explanation: 'qui in aliena cenacula se dirigunt'.
  3. §47.11.7.prplus quam fures puniendi sunt — A gerundive construction (third-person plural passive) combining puniendi (from punio) with sunt, expressing obligation or necessity ('must be punished'). It highlights their status as aggravated thieves in contrast to ordinary thieves (fures).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.11.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.11.7.pr

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