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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.5.21.pr

Father's Right to Kill an Adulterous Daughter and Her Partner

Passage 8195 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It regulates the right of a father to kill an adulterer along with his daughter who is under his power, explaining that a father who is himself a son of a family (filius familias) does not possess this right.

[PAPINIANUS libro primo de adulteriis. ] §48.5.21.prPatri datur ius occidendi adulterum cum filia quam in potestate habet: itaque nemo alius ex patribus³ idem iure faciet: sed nec filius familias pater:
[PAPINIAN, in the first book on Adulteries.] To a father is given the right of killing the adulterer together with the daughter whom he has under his power: therefore, no other of the fathers shall do the same by right; and indeed not even a father who is a son of a family.

Notes

  1. §48.5.21.prfilius familias pater — filius familias refers to a person under the paternal power (patria potestas) of a head of the family (pater familias). Thus, filius familias pater means a "son of a family" who is himself under paternal power but has also become a "father" of children. Since he does not hold independent paternal power over his own children, he does not meet the requirement of having the daughter "under his power" (in potestate habet) and thus lacks the right to kill (ius occidendi).
  2. §48.5.21.prsed nec — It expresses a strong additional negation, translated as 'and indeed not even...'. A verb such as faciet or an expression indicating the lack of the right is elliptically omitted at the end.
  3. §48.5.21.prcum filia — It indicates that killing the daughter 'together with' the adulterer simultaneously was a condition for the lawful exercise of the right of killing under the Julian Law.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.5.21.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.5.21.pr

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