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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.11.6.pr-48.11.6.2

Bribery Regarding Witness Notices and Public Duties

Passage 8305 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage outlines the application of the law to bribery involving testimony notices, the disqualifications following a conviction, and various anti-corruption measures under the Julia law on extortion concerning the military, councils, and urban magistrates.

[UENULEIUS SATURNINUS libro tertio publicorum iudiciorum. ] §48.11.6.prEadem lege tenentur, qui ob denuntiandum uel non denuntiandum testimonium pecuniam acceperint.
[UENULEIUS SATURNINUS, in the third book of Public Trials.] Those who have accepted money for giving notice to bear testimony, or for not doing so, are bound by the same law.
H §48.11.6.1ac lege damnatus testimonium publice dicere aut iudex esse postulareue prohibetur.
A person condemned under this law is prohibited from giving testimony publicly, from being a judge, or from making applications.
§48.11.6.2Lege Iulia repetundarum cauetur, ne quis ob militem legendum mittendumue aes accipiat, neue quis ob sententiam in senatu consilioue publico dicendam pecuniam accipiat, uel ob accusandum uel non accusandum: utque urbani magistratus ob omni sorde se abstineant neue plus doni muneris in anno accipiant, quam quod sit aureorum centum.
By the Julia law on extortion it is provided that no one shall accept money for levying or dispatching a soldier, nor shall anyone accept money for expressing an opinion in the senate or in a public council, or for accusing or not accusing; and that the urban magistrates shall abstain from all corruption, and shall not accept in a year more of gift or present than what is of a hundred aurei.

Notes

  1. §48.11.6.prob denuntiandum uel non denuntiandum testimonium — A gerundive construction with ob + accusative (denuntiandum), agreeing with testimonium (testimony). testimonium denuntiare refers to the legal act of formally giving notice to provide testimony or summoning a witness.
  2. §48.11.6.1postulareue — The conjunction -ue (or) attached to the infinitive postulare. In Roman legal procedure, postulare means to make a formal application or demand before a magistrate, either on one's own behalf or as an advocate.
  3. §48.11.6.2Lege Iulia repetundarum cauetur — The impersonal passive cauetur (it is provided/cautioned) is followed by substantive clauses introduced by ne (and ut) which convey the content of the provision. Lege Iulia repetundarum (by the Julia law on extortion) is an ablative of means.
  4. §48.11.6.2ob omni sorde — The preposition ob is used here with the ablative noun sorde (corruption, baseness) dependent on se abstineant (abstain). Although standard usage would expect ab to express separation, the text preserves ob as transmitted in the manuscript tradition.
  5. §48.11.6.2plus doni muneris ... quam quod sit aureorum centum — plus is a neuter singular accusative noun governing the partitive genitives doni and muneris (gift, present). aureorum centum (of a hundred aurei) is a genitive of value, describing the predicate of the relative clause introduced by quod.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.11.6.pr-48.11.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.11.6.pr-48.11.6.2

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