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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.18.10.pr-48.18.10.6

Scope, Moderation of Torture, and Credibility of Testimony

Passage 8369 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Based on Arcadius Charisius, this section explains the criteria for applying torture, including its prohibition on those under fourteen, exceptions for treason, restrictions regarding family slaves, the appropriate severity of torture, the importance of demeanor and reputation in testimony, and its ban in status-related lawsuits.

[ARCADIUS CHARISIUS libro singulari de testibus. ] §48.18.10.prDe minore quattuordecim annis quaestio habenda non est, ut et diuus Pius Caecilio Iuuentiano rescripsit.
[ARCADIUS CHARISIUS, in the single book on Witnesses.] Torture must not be applied to a person under fourteen years of age, as the deified Pius also wrote in a rescript to Caecilius Iuventianus.
§48.18.10.1Sed omnes omnino in maiestatis crimine, quod ad personas principum attinet, si ad testimonium prouocentur, cum res exigit, torquentur.
But in the crime of treason, which concerns the persons of the emperors, absolutely everyone, if they are called to give testimony, when the circumstances require it, shall be subjected to torture.
§48.18.10.2Potest quaeri, an de seruis filii castrensis peculii in caput patris quaestio haberi non possit: nam patris non debere torqueri in filium constitutum est.
The question may be asked whether torture cannot be applied to the slaves of a son who has a military peculium (castrense peculium) in a matter affecting the life or status of his father; for it has been established that a father's [slaves] ought not to be tortured against his son.
et puto recte dici nec filii seruos in caput patris esse interrogandos.
And I think it is rightly said that neither should the son's slaves be interrogated in a matter affecting the life or status of the father.
§48.18.10.3Tormenta autem adhibenda sunt, non quanta accusator postulat, sed ut moderatae rationis temperamenta desiderant.
However, torture should be applied not to the extent that the accuser demands, but as the moderation of reasonable discretion requires.
§48.18.10.4Nec debet initium probationum de domo rei accusator sumere, dum aut libertos eius quem accusat aut seruos in testimonium uocat.
Nor should the accuser begin his proof from the household of the accused, by calling either the freedmen or the slaves of the person he accuses to give testimony.
§48.18.10.5Plurimum quoque in excutienda ueritate etiam uox ipsa et cognitionis suptilis diligentia adfert: nam et ex sermone et ex eo, qua quis constantia, qua trepidatione quid diceret, uel cuius existimationis quisque in ciuitate sua est, quaedam ad inluminandam ueritatem in lucem emergunt.
In investigating the truth, the very voice of the speaker and the diligence of a meticulous investigation also contribute a great deal; for both from the speech and from the consistency or the trepidation with which someone says something, or what reputation each person has in his own city, certain things emerge into the light to illuminate the truth.
§48.18.10.6In causis quoque liberalibus non oportet per eorum tormenta, de quorum statu quaeritur, ueritatem requiri.
Also in cases concerning status (liberales causae), the truth ought not to be sought through the torture of those whose status is in question.

Notes

  1. §48.18.10.prminore quattuordecim annis — quattuordecim annis (fourteen years) is an ablative of comparison, which, together with the comparative minore, means 'one younger than fourteen years.'
  2. §48.18.10.2patris — The noun seruos (slaves, or singular seruum) is understood to be omitted after the genitive patris. This maintains symmetry both with the preceding context de seruis... and with the following phrase filii seruos, meaning 'the father's [slaves] ought not to be tortured against his son.'
  3. §48.18.10.4dum aut libertos eius quem accusat aut seruos in testimonium uocat — The conjunction dum with the present indicative uocat does not merely denote temporal simultaneity ('while'), but practically expresses the means or method ('by calling...') of the main clause's action initium probationum... sumere (to begin proof).
  4. §48.18.10.5qua quis constantia, qua trepidatione quid diceret, uel cuius existimationis quisque in ciuitate sua est — While the first clause uses the imperfect subjunctive diceret to form an indirect question, the second clause uses the present indicative est. Both clauses run parallel as explanations of eo governed by the preposition ex, illustrating the post-classical tendency to mix indicative and subjunctive moods in indirect questions.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.18.10.pr-48.18.10.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.18.10.pr-48.18.10.6

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