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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.21.2.pr-48.21.2.1

Death after Bribing Accusers and Timing of Sentences

Passage 8437 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage quotes an imperial rescript regarding the treatment of accused persons who died after bribing their accusers, and refers to a senatus consultum concerning whether a defendant who dies before an imperial ruling is considered deceased before sentence.

[MACER libro secundo publicorum. ] §48.21.2.prImperatores Seuerus et Antoninus Iulio Iuliano.
[MACER, from his Second Book on Public Prosecutions.] The Emperors Severus and Antoninus to Julius Julianus.
Eos, qui a latronibus nominati corruptis accusatoribus diem suum obierint, ut confessos de crimine non relinquere defensionem heredibus rationis est'. §48.21.2.1Si is, de cuius poena imperatori scriptum est (ueluti quod decurio fuerit uel quod in insulam deportari debuerit), antequam rescriberetur decesserit: potest quaeri, num ante sententiam decessisse uideatur.
"It is reasonable that those who, having been named by robbers, met their death after corrupting their accusers, should, as having confessed to the crime, leave no defense to their heirs." If a person concerning whose punishment a report was written to the Emperor (for example, because he was a decurion, or because he ought to have been deported to an island) should die before a rescript is returned, it may be asked whether he is to be regarded as having died before sentence.
argumento est senatus consultum, quod factum est de his, qui Romam transmissi ante sententiam decessissent.
A senatus consultum which was passed concerning those who, having been sent to Rome, had died before sentence, serves as an argument.
cuius uerba haec sunt: 'Cum damnatus nemo uideri possit in hunc annum, antequam de eo forte iudicium Romae redditum et pronuntiatum esset: neque cuiusquam mortui bona, antequam de eo Romae pronuntiatum sit, publicata sunt, eaque bona heredes possidere debent'.
Its words are as follows: "Since no one can be deemed condemned for this year before judgment has perchance been rendered and pronounced concerning him at Rome, neither are the goods of any deceased person confiscated before a pronouncement has been made concerning him at Rome, and the heirs ought to possess those goods."

Notes

  1. 48.21.2.prEos, qui a latronibus nominati corruptis accusatoribus diem suum obierint, ut confessos de crimine non relinquere defensionem heredibus rationis est — In this sentence, the accusative with infinitive clause "Eos... non relinquere defensionem heredibus" serves as the subject of "rationis est" ("it is reasonable", genitive of characteristic). "Eos" is the subject of the infinitive "non relinquere", and "ut confessos de crimine" ("as having confessed to the crime") qualifies "eos".
  2. 48.21.2.prcorruptis accusatoribus — Ablative absolute. Literally translated as "accusers having been corrupted," it corresponds to "qui aduersarium corrupit" in the previous section (§48.21.1.pr) and refers to the fact that the accused corrupted their accusers.
  3. 48.21.2.1argumento est — Dative of purpose (or a simplified double dative construction). It means "the senatus consultum exists as an argument (argumentum)" (i.e., "serves as an argument").
  4. 48.21.2.1in hunc annum — Translated as "for this year" or "at this stage." Some manuscripts have the variant reading "in hunc actum" (in this proceeding). Here, following the text, it is interpreted as "in this year."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.21.2.pr-48.21.2.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.21.2.pr-48.21.2.1

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