Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.2.31.pr-47.2.31.1

Effacement of Writings and Theft of Public Tablets

Passage 7892 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the liability for unlawful damage under the Lex Aquilia when an image or a book is erased, and the liability for theft when the public document tablets of a municipality or other body are stolen or altered.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo primo ad Sabinum. ] §47.2.31.prSed et si imaginem quis uel librum deleuerit, et hic tenetur damno iniuriae, quasi corruperit.
[ULPIANUS in the forty-first book on Sabinus.] But also if anyone has erased an image or a book, he too is held liable for unlawful damage, as if he had corrupted it.
§47.2.31.1Si quis tabulas instrumentorum rei publicae municipii alicuius aut subripuerit aut interleuerit, Labeo ait furti eum teneri: idemque scribit et de ceteris rebus publicis deque societatibus.
If anyone has either stolen or altered the tablets of the public documents of any municipality, Labeo says that he is held liable for theft; and he writes the same also concerning other public bodies and partnerships.

Notes

  1. 47.2.31.prdamno iniuriae — Refers to liability for "damage unlawfully inflicted" (damnum iniuria datum) under the Lex Aquilia. It is an ablative of cause or ground governed by the verb tenetur.
  2. 47.2.31.1interleuerit — The perfect (or future perfect) active indicative third-person singular of the verb interlinere (to write between lines, to overwrite). Here it refers to "altering" or "falsifying" the contents of a tablet by erasing or writing over it.
  3. 47.2.31.1furti — A genitive of the crime or charge. Used in combination with the passive verb teneri (to be held liable, bound) to mean "to be held liable for theft."
  4. 47.2.31.1rebus publicis — Here, res publica refers not to the Roman state as a whole, but broadly to "municipalities" or "public corporations" other than the municipium that manage public property and archives.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.2.31.pr-47.2.31.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.2.31.pr-47.2.31.1

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.