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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.5.15.pr-48.5.15.3

Collusion in Adultery and Priority Periods for Accusal

Passage 8189 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It regulates the punishment of those who assist adulterous parties in buying themselves off, the mutual liability when a husband sets up his wife, the sixty-day priority period for the husband or father to accuse after divorce, and the liability of husbands for false accusation.

[SCAEUOLA libro quarto regularum. ] §48.5.15.prIs, cuius ope consilio dolo malo factum est, ut uir feminae in adulterio deprehensi pecunia aliaue qua pactione se redimerent, eadem poena damnatur, quae constituta est in eos, qui lenocinii crimine damnantur.
[SCAEUOLA, in the fourth book of Rules.] He by whose aid, counsel, or wilful fraud it was brought about that the husband of the woman, and those caught [together] in adultery, should redeem themselves with money or some other agreement, is condemned to the same penalty that has been established against those who are condemned for the crime of procuring.
§48.5.15.1Si uir infamandae uxoris suae causa adulterum subiecerit, ut ipse deprehenderet, et uir et mulier adulterii crimine tenentur ex senatus consulto de ea re facto.
If a husband, for the sake of defaming his wife, should suborn an adulterer so that he himself might catch them, both the husband and the woman are held liable for the crime of adultery under the senatus consultum passed concerning this matter.
§48.5.15.2Marito primum, uel patri eam filiam quam in potestate habet, intra dies sexaginta diuortii accusare permittitur nec ulli alii intra id tempus agendi potestas datur: ultra eos dies neutrius uoluntas exspectatur.
Within sixty days of the divorce, permission to accuse is granted in the first place to the husband, or to the father in respect of that daughter whom he has under his power, and within that time the power of bringing an action is given to no one else; beyond those days, the will of neither is waited for.
§48.5.15.3Iure mariti qui accusant, calumniae periculum non euitant.
Those who accuse under the right of a husband do not escape the danger of false accusation.

Notes

  1. §48.5.15.prope consilio dolo malo — A traditional legal formula in Roman law expressing complicity or abetment, meaning "by aid, counsel, and wilful fraud."
  2. §48.5.15.pruir feminae in adulterio deprehensi — Some manuscripts read uir feminaque (the husband and the woman), but the text uir feminae means "the husband of the woman." In concord with the plural nominative participle deprehensi (those caught) and the plural verb redimerent, this refers to the scenario where the husband of the woman, along with the parties caught in the act of adultery, buy themselves off to escape prosecution.
  3. §48.5.15.1infamandae uxoris suae causa — A gerundive construction where the gerundive infamandae agrees with the noun uxoris suae, combined with the preposition causa (governing the genitive to mean "for the sake of") to express purpose.
  4. §48.5.15.2neutrius uoluntas exspectatur — neutrius is the genitive singular of neuter (neither of the two, i.e., the husband and the father). Literally translated as "the will of neither is waited for," it means that after the sixty-day priority period has elapsed, the law no longer waits for the decision of the husband or the father, and the right to accuse is opened to third parties.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.5.15.pr-48.5.15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.5.15.pr-48.5.15.3

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