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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.10.23.pr

Definition of Forgery: Alteration and Imitation of Documents

Passage 8289 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text defines forgery (falsum) as the imitation of another's signature or the physical alteration and copying of documents, distinguishing it from merely lying in calculations or accounts.

[IDEM libro singulari de poenis paganorum. ] §48.10.23.prQuid sit falsum, quaeritur: et uidetur id esse, si quis alienum chirographum imitetur aut libellum uel rationes intercidat uel describat, non qui alias in computatione uel in ratione mentitur.
[BY THE SAME, in his single book on the Penalties of Pagans.] It is asked what forgery is; and it seems to be this: if anyone imitates another's chirograph, or cuts out and alters a document or accounts, or copies them; and not one who otherwise lies in a computation or in an account.

Notes

  1. 48.10.23.prde poenis paganorum — In classical legal contexts, paganus refers to a 'civilian' or 'non-soldier' as opposed to a soldier (miles), rather than a 'pagan' in the religious sense of late antiquity.
  2. 48.10.23.printercidat uel describat — intercidere literally means 'to cut through' or 'destroy,' but here refers to the physical alteration of a document. describere means 'to copy' or 'transcribe,' referring to the creation of a forged duplicate.
  3. 48.10.23.prnon qui alias in computatione — This establishes a distinction between forgery proper (falsum), which involves physical alteration or imitation of documents (material forgery), and merely making false entries or lying in genuine accounts (intellectual falsity), which is excluded from this definition.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.10.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.10.23.pr

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