Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.29.pr

Loss of Citizenship and Freedom on Capital Sentence and Delays in Execution

Passage 8410 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses how condemnation to the extreme penalty immediately results in the loss of citizenship and freedom, noting how execution is sometimes delayed in cases like condemnation to the beasts or to conduct interrogation of others.

[GAIUS libro primo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §48.19.29.prQui ultimo supplicio damnantur, statim et ciuitatem et libertatem perdunt.
[GAIUS, from the first book on the Julian and Papian Law.] who are condemned to the extreme penalty immediately lose both citizenship and freedom.
itaque praeoccupat hic casus mortem et nonnumquam longum tempus occupat: quod accidit in personis eorum, qui ad bestias damnantur.
Therefore, this event forestalls death and sometimes occupies a long time: which happens in the case of those who are condemned to the beasts.
saepe etiam ideo seruari solent post damnationem, ut ex his in alios quaestio habeatur.
They are also often accustomed to be kept alive after condemnation for this reason, that an inquiry by torture may be held from them against others.

Notes

  1. §48.19.29.prpraeoccupat hic casus mortem — This means "this event (the loss of citizenship and freedom) temporally precedes physical death." It illustrates the Roman law principle of "civil death," where a person condemned to the extreme penalty becomes legally dead before their physical demise.
  2. §48.19.29.prex his in alios quaestio habeatur — Here, `quaestio` refers to "interrogation under torture." `ex his` means "from them" or "by torturing them." This refers to the practice of delaying the execution of a condemned person and keeping them alive to conduct an investigation against others (`in alios`), such as accomplices.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.29.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.29.pr

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