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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.15.pr

Exemption of Decurions from Capital Punishment and Parricide

Passage 8396 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Venuleius Saturninus states that decurions are generally exempt from capital punishment, with the exception of parricide, and that their punishment under the Cornelian law is detailed in the imperial instructions.

[UENULEIUS SATURNINUS libro primo de officio proconsulis. ] §48.19.15.prDiuus Hadrianus eos, qui in numero decurionum essent, capite puniri prohibuit, nisi si qui parentem occidissent: uerum poena legis Corneliae puniendos mandatis plenissime cautum est.
[UENULEIUS SATURNINUS, from the first book on the Office of Proconsul.] The Divine Hadrian forbade those who were in the rank of decurions to be capitally punished, unless they had killed a parent; but it is most fully provided in the instructions that they should be punished with the penalty of the Cornelian law.

Notes

  1. §48.19.15.preos, qui in numero decurionum essent — The subjunctive 'essent' in the relative clause is due to the subjunctive of attraction or indirect speech reflecting the emperor's decree (prohibuit), matching the historical tense of the main verb.
  2. §48.19.15.prnisi si qui parentem occidissent — The conditional clause introduced by 'nisi si qui' uses the pluperfect subjunctive 'occidissent' to represent an action prior to the main past verb (prohibuit), corresponding to a future perfect in direct primary sequence.
  3. §48.19.15.prpuniendos mandatis plenissime cautum est — The gerundive 'puniendos' (with 'esse' understood) forms an accusative and infinitive construction acting as the subject of the impersonal passive 'cautum est'. The implied subject of 'puniendos' is 'eos' (the decurions).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.15.pr

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