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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.18.6.pr-48.18.6.1

Torture of Slaves in Adultery and Will Forgery Trials

Passage 8365 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses the compensation or confiscation of slaves who have been tortured in an adultery trial depending on whether acquittal or conviction follows, as well as the permissibility of torturing hereditary slaves in trials concerning forged wills.

[PAPINIANUS libro secundo de adulteriis. ] §48.18.6.prPatre uel marito de adulterio agente et postulantibus de seruis rei ut quaestio habeatur, si uere causa perorata testibus prolatis absolutio secuta fuerit, mancipiorum, quae mortua sunt, aestimatio habetur: secuta uero damnatione quae supersunt publicantur.
[PAPINIANUS, in the second book on Adulteries.] When a father or a husband brings an action for adultery and they demand that a trial by torture be held of the defendant's slaves, if indeed, after the case has been fully pleaded and witnesses produced, an acquittal should follow, an estimation is made of the slaves who died; but if a conviction follows, those that survive are confiscated.
§48.18.6.1Cum de falso testamento quaeritur, hereditarii serui possunt torqueri.
When inquiry is made concerning a forged will, the hereditary slaves can be tortured.

Notes

  1. §48.18.6.prPatre uel marito de adulterio agente et postulantibus de seruis rei ut quaestio habeatur — This clause consists of sequential ablative absolute constructions that set up the premise for the main clause: `patre uel marito ... agente` (present participle) and `[eis] postulantibus` (present participle) joined by `et`. `rei` is the genitive singular of `reus` (defendant), modifying `seruis`.
  2. §48.18.6.prsi uere causa perorata testibus prolatis absolutio secuta fuerit — Within the conditional `si` clause, two ablative absolute constructions are embedded: `causa perorata` (noun + perfect participle) and `testibus prolatis` (noun + perfect participle). The main verb of the conditional clause is `secuta fuerit` (future perfect active/deponent form of `sequor`), with `absolutio` (acquittal) as its subject.
  3. §48.18.6.prmancipiorum, quae mortua sunt, aestimatio habetur — The main verb of the principal clause is `habetur`, and its subject is `aestimatio` (valuation/estimation). `mancipiorum` is an objective genitive modifying `aestimatio`, and it is further qualified by the relative clause `quae mortua sunt` (which have died).
  4. §48.18.6.1hereditarii serui — Refers to 'hereditary slaves' or 'slaves belonging to an inheritance'. These are slaves that form part of an estate (hereditas) before an heir has accepted the inheritance or before the estate has been fully distributed.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.18.6.pr-48.18.6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.18.6.pr-48.18.6.1

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