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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.22.3.pr

Effects of Loss of Citizenship on Children's Rights

Passage 8441 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Alfenus argues that a person who loses citizenship only deprives his children of rights that would have directly devolved from him (such as his inheritance and freedmen), whereas rights granted by lineage, the state, or nature remain unimpaired.

[ALFENUS libro primo epitomarum. ] §48.22.3.prEum, qui ciuitatem amitteret, nihil aliud iuris adimere liberis, nisi quod ab ipso peruenturum esset ad eos, si intestatus in ciuitate moreretur: hoc est hereditatem eius et libertos et si quid aliud in hoc genere repperiri potest.
[Alfenus, Epitomes, Book I.] That he who loses citizenship deprives his children of no other right except that which would have come to them from himself, if he had died intestate in the state; that is, his inheritance, his freedmen, and whatever else of this kind can be found.
quae uero non a patre, sed a genere, a ciuitate, a rerum natura tribuerentur, ea manere eis incolumia.
But those things which are bestowed not by the father, but by descent, by the state, by the nature of things, remain unimpaired for them.
itaque et fratres fratribus fore legitimos heredes et adgnatorum tutelas et hereditates habituros: non enim haec patrem, sed maiores eius eis dedisse.
And therefore brothers will be lawful heirs to brothers, and they will have the guardianships and inheritances of agnates; for it was not their father who gave them these things, but his ancestors.

Notes

  1. §48.22.3.prEum ... adimere — An accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse (oratio obliqua). The main governing verb (such as one of saying or thinking, introducing the jurist's opinion) is omitted but implied. The subject accusative is 'eum' (modified by the 'qui' clause), and its infinitive is 'adimere'.
  2. §48.22.3.prnihil aliud iuris — 'iuris' is a partitive genitive qualifying the neuter pronominal phrase 'nihil aliud'. Literally 'nothing else of right', meaning 'no other right'.
  3. §48.22.3.prnon enim haec patrem, sed maiores eius eis dedisse — The clause introduced by 'enim' is also in indirect discourse, hence the infinitive 'dedisse'. The subject accusatives of 'dedisse' are 'patrem' ('not that the father had given') and 'maiores eius' ('but that his ancestors had given'). 'haec' (neuter plural accusative) is the direct object, and 'eis' is the indirect object.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.22.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.22.3.pr

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