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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.5.25.pr-48.5.25.3

Limits on the Husband's Right to Kill and Duty to Divorce

Passage 8199 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The section discusses the husband's restricted right to kill his wife's adulterer (limited to certain classes of persons) and the subsequent duty of divorce, as well as questions regarding the scope and qualifications of this right for fathers and husbands.

[MACER libro primo publicorum. ] §48.5.25.prMarito quoque adulterum uxoris suae occidere permittitur, sed non quemlibet, ut patri: nam hac lege cauetur, ut liceat uiro deprehensum domi suae (non etiam soceri) in adulterio uxoris occidere eum, qui leno fuerit quiue artem ludicram ante fecerit in scaenam saltandi cantandiue causa prodierit iudicioue publico damnatus neque in integrum restitutus erit, quiue libertus eius mariti uxorisue, patris matris, filii filiae utrius eorum fuerit (nec interest, proprius cuius eorum an cum alio communis fuerit) quiue seruus erit.
[MACER, in the first book on Public Matters.] To a husband also it is permitted to kill his wife's adulterer, but not just anyone, as is the case for a father; for it is provided by this law that a husband is allowed to kill one caught in his own house (not even that of his father-in-law) in the adultery of his wife, who has been a pimp, or has previously engaged in the theatrical profession and appeared on stage to dance or sing, or has been condemned in a public trial and not restored to his original status, or who was a freedman of that husband or wife, or of the father, mother, son, or daughter of either of them (and it makes no difference whether he belonged to one of them exclusively or was held in common with another), or who is a slave.
§48.5.25.1Et praecipitur, ut is maritus, qui horum quem occiderit, uxorem sine mora dimittat.
And it is directed that the husband who kills any of these must divorce his wife without delay.
§48.5.25.2Ceterum sui iuris an filius familias sit maritus, nihil interesse a plerisque dictum est.
As for the rest, it has been stated by most authorities that it makes no difference whether the husband is independent or a son-in-power.
§48.5.25.3Illud in utroque ex sententia legis quaeritur, an patri magistratum occidere liceat? item si filia ignominiosa sit aut uxor contra leges nupta, an id ius nihilo minus pater maritusue habeat? et quid, si pater maritusue leno uel aliqua ignominia notatus est? et rectius dicetur eos ius occidendi habere, qui iure patris maritiue accusare possunt.
According to the intent of the law, the following is questioned in both cases: is a father allowed to kill a magistrate? Likewise, if the daughter is infamous, or the wife has been married contrary to the laws, does the father or husband nevertheless possess that right? And what if the father or husband himself is a pimp or marked with some infamy? It will be more correctly said that those have the right of killing who can accuse by right of a father or husband.

Notes

  1. §48.5.25.prut patri — An elliptical phrase meaning "as it is permitted to a father" (ut patri permittitur). It contrasts the husband's restricted right with the father's right, which was not limited by the status of the adulterer.
  2. §48.5.25.prproprius cuius eorum an cum alio communis fuerit — An indirect question clause introduced by the impersonal expression nec interest ("it does not matter") at the beginning of the parenthesis, employing the particle an.
  3. §48.5.25.3Illud in utroque ex sententia legis quaeritur — The demonstrative pronoun Illud in the main clause anticipates (prolepsis) the subsequent series of indirect questions introduced by an patri... and item si... an... etc.
  4. §48.5.25.3eos ius occidendi habere, qui iure patris maritiue accusare possunt — An accusative with infinitive (ACI) construction serving as the subject of the impersonal passive verb rectius dicetur ("it will be more correctly said"), where eos is the subject accusative of the infinitive habere, modified by the relative clause qui...

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.5.25.pr-48.5.25.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.5.25.pr-48.5.25.3

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