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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.14.3.pr-47.14.3.3

Criteria for Cattle-Theft and Punishing Harborers

Passage 8074 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses the criteria for distinguishing cattle-raiding (abigeatus) from common theft based on the type, number, location, and frequency of the stolen livestock, and cites Trajan's ruling on the punishment of their harborers.

[CALLISTRATUS libro sexto de cognitionibus. ] §47.14.3.prOues pro numero abactarum aut furem aut abigeum faciunt.
[CALLISTRATUS, in the sixth book on extraordinary trials.] Sheep, according to the number of those driven off, make [the thief] either a common thief or a cattle-raider.
quidam decem oues gregem esse putauerunt: porcos etiam quinque uel quattuor abactos, equum bouem uel unum abigeatus crimen facere.
Some have thought that ten sheep constitute a herd; and that four or five pigs driven off, or even a single horse or ox, constitutes the crime of cattle-raiding.
§47.14.3.1Eum quoque plenius coercendum, qui a stabulo abegit domitum pecus, non a silua nec grege.
He also should be punished more severely who has driven off a domesticated beast from a stable, not from a forest or a herd.
§47.14.3.2Qui saepius abegerunt, licet semper unum uel alterum pecus subripuerint, tamen abigei sunt.
Those who have driven off [beasts] rather frequently, even though they always stole only one or two beasts, are nevertheless cattle-raiders.
§47.14.3.3Receptores abigeorum qua poena plecti debeant, epistula diui Traiani ita cauetur, ut extra terram Italiam decem annis relegarentur.
As to what penalty the harborers of cattle-raiders ought to be punished with, it is provided in a letter of the divine Trajan that they should be relegated outside the land of Italy for ten years.

Notes

  1. §47.14.3.pruel unum — The conjunction uel here functions not as a disjunctive ('or') but as an intensive adverb ('even'). It emphasizes that in the case of a horse or an ox, 'even a single one' is sufficient to constitute the crime of cattle-raiding.
  2. §47.14.3.1Eum quoque plenius coercendum — A gerundive construction expressing obligation or necessity, with the ellipsis of the auxiliary verb esse. The accusative eum serves as the subject of this infinitive clause and is modified by the relative clause qui... abegit.
  3. §47.14.3.3Receptores abigeorum qua poena plecti debeant — This indirect question clause placed at the beginning of the sentence functions as a pendens or topic marker (anacoluthon) without a direct grammatical connection to the main verb cauetur. The logical structure is 'As for what penalty they should be punished with, it is provided...'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.14.3.pr-47.14.3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.14.3.pr-47.14.3.3

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