[MARCIANUS libro singulari de delatoribus. ] §48.21.3.prQui rei postulati uel qui in scelere deprehensi metu criminis imminentis mortem sibi consciuerunt, heredem non habent.
[MARCIAN, from his Single Book on Informers.] Those who, having been accused as defendants or caught in the act of a crime, have brought death upon themselves out of fear of an impending charge, have no heir.
Papinianus tamen libro sexto decimo digestorum responsorum ita scripsit, ut qui rei criminis non postulati manus sibi intulerint, bona eorum fisco non uindicentur: non enim facti sceleritatem esse obnoxiam, sed conscientiae metum in reo ueluti confesso teneri placuit.
Papinian, however, in the sixteenth book of his Responses, wrote that the goods of those who laid hands on themselves without having been accused of a crime are not to be claimed for the treasury; for it was resolved that it is not the wickedness of the deed that is liable, but that the fear of conscience in a defendant is held to be as if he had confessed.
ergo aut postulati esse debent aut in scelere deprehensi, ut, si se interfecerint, bona eorum confiscentur.
Therefore, they must either have been accused or caught in the act of a crime, so that, if they kill themselves, their goods may be confiscated.
§48.21.3.1Ut autem diuus Pius rescripsit, ita demum bona eius, qui in reatu mortem sibi consciuit, fisco uindicanda sunt, si eius criminis reus fuit, ut, si damnaretur, morte aut deportatione adficiendus esset.
But as the deified Pius replied by rescript, the goods of one who brought death upon himself while under accusation are to be claimed for the treasury only if he was accused of such a crime that, if condemned, he would have had to be punished with death or deportation.
Idem rescripsit cum, §48.21.3.2qui modici furti reus fuisset, licet uitam suspendio finierit, non uideri in eadem² causa esse, ut bona heredibus adimenda essent, sicuti neque ipsi adimerentur, si compertum in eo furtum fuisset.
The same Emperor replied by rescript that when a person who had been accused of minor theft, although he ended his life by hanging, is not deemed to be in the same position so that his goods should be taken away from his heirs, just as they would not have been taken from him himself, if the theft had been proved against him.
§48.21.3.3Ergo ita demum dicendum est bona eius, qui manus sibi intulit, fisco uindicari, si eo crimine nexus fuit, ut, si conuinceretur, bonis careat.
Therefore, it is to be said that the goods of one who laid hands on himself are confiscated only if he was bound by such a charge that, if convicted, he would lose his property.
§48.21.3.4Si quis autem taedio uitae uel inpatientia doloris alicuius uel alio modo uitam finierit, successorem habero diuus Antoninus rescripsit.
But if anyone should end his life from weariness of living, or impatience under some pain, or in any other manner, the deified Antoninus replied by rescript that he has a successor.
§48.21.3.5Uideri autem et patrem, qui sibi manus intulisset, quod diceretur filium suum occidisse, magis dolore filii amissi mortem sibi irrogasse et ideo bona eius non esse publicanda diuus Hadrianus rescripsit.
Moreover, the deified Hadrian replied by rescript that even a father who laid hands on himself because he was said to have killed his son, is to be regarded as having brought death upon himself rather from grief for his lost son, and therefore his goods are not to be confiscated.
§48.21.3.6Sic autem hoc distinguitur, interesse qua ex causa quis sibi mortem consciuit: sicuti cum quaeritur, an is³, qui sibi manus intulit et non perpetrauit, debeat puniri, quasi de se sententiam tulit.
Thus, this distinction is made, that it matters for what reason one brought death upon himself: just as when it is asked whether he who laid hands on himself and did not accomplish it ought to be punished, as if he had pronounced sentence on himself.
nam omnimodo puniendus est, nisi taedio uitae uel inpatientia alicuius doloris coactus est hoc facere.
For he is by all means to be punished, unless he was compelled to do this by weariness of life or impatience under some pain.
et merito, si sine causa sibi manus intulit, puniendus est: qui enim sibi non pepercit, multo minus alii parcet.
And deservedly, if he laid hands on himself without cause, he is to be punished: for he who did not spare himself will spare another much less.
§48.21.3.7Si qui autem sub incerto causae euentu in uinculis uel sub fideiussoribus decesserint, horum bona non esse confiscanda mandatis cauetur.
But if any persons should die in prison or under bail while the outcome of their case is still uncertain, it is provided in the imperial mandates that their goods are not to be confiscated.
§48.21.3.8De illo uideamus, si quis conscita morte nulla iusta causa praecedente in reatu decesserit, an, si parati fuerint heredes causam suscipere et innocentem defunctum ostendere, audiendi sint nec prius bona in fiscum cogenda sint, quam si de crimine fuerit probatum: an uero omnimodo publicanda sunt.
Let us consider this: if anyone, having brought death upon himself with no just cause preceding, should die while under accusation, whether, if the heirs are ready to undertake the case and show the deceased innocent, they ought to be heard, and his goods not be brought into the treasury until the crime has been proved; or indeed, whether they are to be confiscated in any event.
sed diuus Pius Modesto Taurino rescripsit, si parati sint heredes defensiones suscipere, non esse bona publicanda, nisi de crimine fuerit probatum.
But the deified Pius replied by rescript to Modestus Taurinus that, if the heirs are ready to undertake the defense, the goods are not to be confiscated unless the crime has been proved.