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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.14.1.pr-48.14.1.4

Scope of the Bribery Law and Penalties in Municipalities

Passage 8328 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus explains how the application of the law on election bribery (ambitus) has changed under the principate, and details the penalties for municipal violations, restoration of status through successful prosecution of others, unauthorized taxation, and illegal contact with judges.

[MODESTINUS libro secundo de poenis. ] §48.14.1.praec lex in urbe hodie cessat, quia ad curam principis magistratuum creatio pertinet, non ad populi fauorem.
[MODESTINUS, On Punishments, Book II.] This law is no longer in force in the city today, because the creation of magistrates pertains to the care of the emperor, not to the favor of the people.
§48.14.1.1Quod si in municipio contra hanc legem magistratum aut sacerdotium quis petierit, per senatus consultum centum aureis cum infamia punitur.
But if anyone in a municipality should seek a magistracy or a priesthood contrary to this law, he is punished by a decree of the senate with a fine of one hundred aurei along with infamy.
§48.14.1.2Qua lege damnatus si alium conuicerit, in integrum restituitur, non tamen pecuniam recipit.
If one convicted under this law convicts another, he is restored to his former status, yet he does not receive back the money.
§48.14.1.3Item is, qui nouum uectigal instituerit, ex senatus consulto hac poena plectitur.
Likewise, he who establishes a new tax is subjected to this punishment by a decree of the senate.
§48.14.1.4Et si qui reus uel accusator domum iudicis ingrediatur, per legem Iuliam iudiciariam in legem ambitus committit, id est aureorum centum fisco inferre iubetur.
And if any defendant or accuser enters the house of a judge, he violates the law on bribery under the Julian law on trials; that is, he is ordered to pay one hundred aurei to the treasury.

Notes

  1. §48.14.1.praec lex — A scribal error for the demonstrative pronoun 'haec' (this). In this context, it refers to the Julian Law on Bribery (lex Iulia de ambitu), which is noted as inactive in the city of Rome due to the emperor's direct role in creating magistrates.
  2. §48.14.1.1centum aureis — An ablative of means or price expressing the penalty, meaning 'is punished with a fine of one hundred aurei'.
  3. §48.14.1.4in legem ambitus committit — The phrase 'committere in legem' is a legal idiom meaning 'to violate a law' or 'to commit an offense against a law'. It combines an intransitive usage of 'committere' with the preposition 'in' and the accusative case of the specific law.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.14.1.pr-48.14.1.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.14.1.pr-48.14.1.4

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