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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.5.22.pr

Denial of the Right to Kill for Dependent Fathers

Passage 8196 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that a father or grandfather who is not independent (sui iuris) is not deemed to hold descendants under his power, and thus they do not possess the right to kill the adulterer.

[ULPIANUS libro primo de adulteris. ] §48.5.22.pr(sic eueniet, ut nec pater nec auus possint occidere) nec immerito: in sua enim potestate non uidetur habere, qui non est suae potestatis.
[ULPIAN, in the first book on Adulterers.] (Thus it will happen that neither the father nor the grandfather can kill) and not without reason: for he who is not of his own power is not deemed to have [her] under his own power.

Notes

  1. §48.5.22.prsuae potestatis — In the phrase "non est suae potestatis", "suae potestatis" is a genitive of quality or possession, denoting being under one's own power (sui iuris). Thus, the whole phrase means "is not under his own power" (i.e., is dependent / alieni iuris).
  2. §48.5.22.prhabere — The object of "habere" (the daughter, "filia") is omitted, to be supplied from the context of the preceding fragment of Papinian (§48.5.21.pr).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.5.22.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.5.22.pr

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