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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.6.5.pr-48.6.5.2

Offenses of Violence Arson Abduction and Priority of Trial

Passage 8224 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section provisions penalties for arson, unlawful confinement, funeral disruption, and forced obligations, establishes the principle that allegations of violence must be investigated before ownership in disputes, and mandates the death penalty for the abduction of women, allowing unrestricted third-party prosecution.

[MARCIANUS libro quarto decimo institutionum. ] §48.6.5.prqui coetu conuersu turba seditione incendium fecerit: quique hominem dolo malo incluserit obsederit: quiue fecerit, quo minus sepeliatur, quo magis funus diripiatur distrahatur: quiue per uim sibi aliquem obligauerit, nam eam obligationem lex rescindit.
[MARCIANUS, Institutes, Book 14] He who has caused a fire by an assembly, riot, crowd, or sedition; and he who has maliciously confined or besieged a person; or he who has acted to prevent a burial, or to cause a funeral to be plundered or disrupted; or he who by force has bound someone to himself in an obligation, for the law rescinds such an obligation.
§48.6.5.1Si de ui et possessione uel dominio quaeratur, ante cognoscendum de ui quam de proprietate rei diuus Pius τῷ κοινῷ τῶν Θεσσαλῶν Graece rescripsit: sed et decreuit, ut prius de ui quaeratur quam de iure dominii siue possessionis.
If there is an inquiry concerning force and possession or ownership, the deified Pius replied in Greek to the Common Council of the Thessalians that the question of force must be investigated before that of the ownership of the thing; and he also decreed that the question of force should be investigated before that of the right of ownership or possession.
§48.6.5.2Qui uacantem mulierem rapuit uel nuptam, ultimo supplicio punitur et, si pater iniuriam suam precibus exoratus remiserit, tamen extraneus sine quinquennii praescriptione reum postulare poterit, cum raptus crimen legis Iuliae de adulteris potestatem excedit.
He who has abducted an unmarried or married woman is punished with the extreme penalty; and even if the father, won over by entreaties, has forgiven the injury done to him, a third party will nevertheless be able to prosecute the accused without the five-year prescription, since the crime of abduction exceeds the authority of the Julian law on adulteries.

Notes

  1. §48.6.5.prconuersu — Ablative singular of the noun `conversus` (assembly, disturbance), acting as an ablative of means alongside `coetu`, `turba`, and `seditione` to modify `fecerit`.
  2. §48.6.5.prquo minus sepeliatur, quo magis funus diripiatur distrahatur — Dependent clauses modifying `fecerit`, expressing purpose. `quo minus` ('lest' or 'in order that... not') denotes prevention, while `quo magis` ('so that... more') denotes facilitation.
  3. §48.6.5.1ante cognoscendum de ui quam de proprietate rei — An impersonal passive periphrastic construction using the gerundive `cognoscendum` with the copula `esse` omitted. The correlatives `ante... quam...` express 'before... than...'.
  4. §48.6.5.2sine quinquennii praescriptione — The genitive `quinquennii` modifies `praescriptione` (limitation, prescription). This refers to the five-year statute of limitations typically applied under the Julian law on adulteries, indicating that this limitation does not apply (`sine`) to the crime of abduction (`raptus`).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.6.5.pr-48.6.5.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.6.5.pr-48.6.5.2

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