[CLAUDIUS SATURNINUS libro singulari de poenis paganorum. ] §48.19.16.prAut facta puniuntur, ut furta caedesque, aut dicta, ut conuicia et infidae aduocationes, aut scripta, ut falsa et famosi libelli, aut consilia, ut coniurationes et latronum conscientia quosque alios suadendo iuuisse sceleris est instar.
[CLAUDIUS SATURNINUS, from the single book on Punishments of Provincials.] Either deeds are punished, such as thefts and homicides, or words, such as insults and unfaithful advocacies, or writings, such as forgeries and libelous pamphlets, or plans, such as conspiracies and complicity with robbers, and to have assisted anyone else by persuading them is equivalent to a crime.
§48.19.16.1Sed haec quattuor genera consideranda sunt septem modis: §48.19.16.2causa persona loco tempore qualitate quantitate euentu.
But these four classes must be considered in seven ways: by cause, person, place, time, quality, quantity, and event.
Causa: ut in uerberibus, quae impunita sunt a magistro allata uel parente, quoniam emendationis, non iniuriae gratia uidentur adhiberi: puniuntur, cum quis per iram ab extraneo pulsatus est.
Cause: as in the case of floggings, which are unpunished when administered by a teacher or parent, since they are seen to be applied for the sake of correction, not of injury; they are punished when someone is struck by a stranger in anger.
§48.19.16.3Persona dupliciter spectatur, eius qui fecit et eius qui passus est: aliter enim puniuntur ex isdem facinoribus serui quam liberi, et aliter, qui quid in dominum parentemue ausus est quam qui in extraneum, in magistratum uel in priuatum.
Person is regarded in two ways: of the one who did it and of the one who suffered it. For slaves are punished differently from free persons for the same crimes, and those who dared do something against a master or parent are punished differently from those who did so against a stranger, a magistrate, or a private citizen.
in eius rei consideratione aetatis quoque ratio habeatur.
In the consideration of this matter, account of age should also be taken.
§48.19.16.4Locus facit, ut idem uel furtum uel sacrilegium sit et capite luendum uel minore supplicio.
Place makes the same act either a theft or a sacrilege, to be expiated by death or by a lesser punishment.
§48.19.16.5Tempus discernit emansorem a fugitiuo et effractorem uel furem diurnum a nocturno.
Time distinguishes an absentee from a runaway, and a housebreaker or a daytime thief from a nighttime thief.
§48.19.16.6Qualitate, cum factum uel atrocius uel leuius est: ut furta manifesta a nec manifestis discerni solent, rixae a grassaturis, expilationes a furtis, petulantia a uiolentia.
Quality, when the deed is either more heinous or lighter: thus manifest thefts are usually distinguished from non-manifest ones, brawls from robberies, pillages from thefts, impudence from violence.
qua de re maximus apud Graecos orator Demosthenes sic ait: οὐ γὰρ ἡ πληγὴ παρέστησε τὴν ὕβριν, ἀλλ’ ἡ ἀτιμία· οὐδὲ τὸ τύπτεσθαι τοῖς ἐλευθέροις ἐστὶ δεινόν, καίπερ ὂν δεινόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐφ’ ὕβρει.
On this matter, Demosthenes, the greatest orator among the Greeks, speaks thus: "For it is not the blow that causes the insult, but the dishonor; nor is being beaten terrible for free men, although it is terrible, but being beaten with insult.
πολλὰ γὰρ ἂν ποιήσειεν ὁ τύπτων, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὧν ὁ παθὼν ἔνια οὐδ’ ἂν ἀπαγγεῖλαι δύναιτο ἑτέρῳ, τῷ σχήματι, τῷ βλέμματι, τῇ φωνῇ, ὅταν ὡς ὑβρίζων, ὅταν ὡς ἐχθρὸς ὑπάρχων, ὅταν κονδύλοις, ὅταν ἐπὶ κόρρης.
For the one who strikes, O men of Athens, might do many things, some of which the victim could not even report to another, by his posture, his look, his voice, when he acts as one insulting, when he behaves as an enemy, when with fists, when on the cheek.
ταῦτα κινεῖ, ταῦτα ἐξίστησιν ἀνθρώπους αὑτῶν ἀήθεις ὄντας τοῦ προπηλακίζεσθαι. §48.19.16.7Quantitas discernit furem ab abigeo: nam qui unum suem subripuerit, ut fur coercebitur, qui gregem, ut abigeus.
These things move and drive out of their minds men who are unaccustomed to being humiliated." Quantity distinguishes a thief from a rustler: for he who steals one pig will be punished as a thief, but he who steals a herd, as a rustler.
§48.19.16.8Euentus spectetur, ut a clementissimo quoque facta: quamquam lex non minus eum, qui occidendi hominis causa cum telo fuerit, quam eum qui occiderit puniat.
The event should be regarded, as also deeds done by the gentlest persons; although the law punishes no less him who went about with a weapon for the purpose of killing a man than him who actually killed.
et ideo apud Graecos exilio uoluntario fortuiti casus luebantur, ut apud praecipuum poetarum scriptum est: εὖτέ με τυτθὸν ἐόντα Μενοίτιος ἐξ Ὀπόεντος ἤγαγεν ὑμέτερόνδ’ ἀνδροκτασίης ὕπο λυγρῆς, ἤματι τῷ ὅτε παῖδα κατέκτανον Ἀμφιδάμαντος νήπιος, οὐκ ἐθέλων, ἀμφ’ ἀστραγάλοισι χολωθείς. §48.19.16.9Euenit, ut eadem scelera in quibusdam prouinciis grauius plectantur, ut in Africa messium incensores, in Mysia uitium, ubi metalla sunt adulteratores monetae.
And therefore, among the Greeks, accidental cases were expiated by voluntary exile, as is written in the chief of poets: "When I was still a little one, Menoetius led me from Opoeis to your home because of a grievous homicide, on that day when I killed the son of Amphidamas, foolish, unwilling, angered over dice." It happens that the same crimes are punished more severely in certain provinces, such as those who set fire to harvests in Africa, those who damage grapevines in Mysia, and counterfeiters of money where there are mines.
§48.19.16.10Nonnumquam euenit, ut aliquorum maleficiorum supplicia exacerbentur, quotiens nimium multis personis grassantibus exemplo opus sit.
Sometimes it happens that the punishments for certain misdeeds are made more severe whenever, because too many persons are rampaging, there is need of an example.