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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.4.5.pr-48.4.5.2

Exemptions from Treason Regarding Statues and Images

Passage 8168 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Exclusions from the crime of treason regarding imperial statues and images from Marcianus's Rules. Repairing damaged statues, accidentally striking a statue with a stone, and selling unconsecrated images of Caesar do not constitute treason.

[MARCIANUS libro quinto regularum. ] §48.4.5.prNon contrahit crimen maiestatis, qui statuas Caesaris uetustate corruptas reficit.
[MARCIANUS, Book 5 of Rules] He who repairs statues of Caesar that have been damaged by age does not commit the crime of treason.
§48.4.5.1Nec qui lapide iactato incerto fortuito statuam attigerit, crimen maiestatis commisit: et ita Seuerus et Antoninus Iulio Cassiano rescripserunt.
Nor has he committed the crime of treason who, by a stone thrown without a fixed aim and by chance, has struck a statue; and to this effect Severus and Antoninus replied by rescript to Iulius Cassianus.
§48.4.5.2Idem Pontio rescripsit non uideri contra maiestatem fieri ob imagines Caesaris nondum consecratas uenditas.
The same [emperor] replied by rescript to Pontius that it is not considered to be done against majesty on account of the sale of images of Caesar that have not yet been consecrated.

Notes

  1. §48.4.5.1lapide iactato incerto fortuito — lapide iactato can be interpreted either as an ablative absolute or as an ablative of means ("by a stone having been thrown"). It is modified by the adjectives in the ablative case, incerto ("unaimed") and fortuito ("accidental"), which function adverbially to emphasize the lack of intent in throwing the stone.
  2. §48.4.5.2Idem Pontio rescripsit — The subject pronoun Idem ("the same") is masculine singular nominative, and the verb rescripsit is also third-person singular. Although the joint emperors Severus and Antoninus (plural) were the subject in the preceding section (§48.4.5.1), the singular here refers either to one of them (typically Antoninus Caracalla, who ruled alone after Severus's death) or treats the imperial authority as a single entity.
  3. §48.4.5.2imagines Caesaris nondum consecratas uenditas — The combination of the accusative noun imagines and the perfect passive participle uenditas governed by the preposition ob ("on account of"). This is a noun-participle construction (similar to the "ab urbe condita" construction), representing the action as a whole: "on account of the sale of images..." rather than "on account of the sold images...".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.4.5.pr-48.4.5.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.4.5.pr-48.4.5.2

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