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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.8.1.pr-48.8.1.5

The Cornelian Law on Murderers and Proof of Intent

Passage 8240 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage outlines the offenses subject to the Cornelian Law on assassins and poisoners, such as homicide, arson, and false accusation, alongside imperial rescripts concerning the relevance of intent, self-defense, and mitigating circumstances.

[MARCIANUS libro quarto decimo institutionum. ] §48.8.1.prLege Cornelia de sicariis et ueneficis tenetur, qui hominem occiderit: cuiusue dolo malo incendium factum erit: quiue hominis occidendi furtiue faciendi causa cum telo ambulauerit: quiue, cum magistratus esset publicoue iudicio praeesset, operam dedisset, quo quis falsum indicium profiteretur, ut quis innocens conueniretur condemnaeretur.
[MARCIANUS, Institutes, Book 14] Under the Cornelian Law on assassins and poisoners, a person is liable who has killed a human being; or by whose malice a fire has been caused; or who has gone about with a weapon for the purpose of killing a human being or committing a theft; or who, when he was a magistrate or presided over a public trial, took active steps to have someone make a false accusation, so that an innocent person might be prosecuted and condemned.
§48.8.1.1Praeterea tenetur, qui hominis necandi causa uenenum confecerit dederit: quiue falsum testimonium dolo malo dixerit, quo quis publico iudicio rei capitalis damnaretur: quiue magistratus iudexue quaestionis ob capitalem causam pecuniam acceperit ut publica lege reus fieret.
Furthermore, a person is liable who has prepared or given poison for the purpose of killing a human being; or who has willfully given false testimony in order that someone might be condemned to a capital penalty in a public trial; or who, being a magistrate or a judge of an inquiry, has accepted money in connection with a capital case so that a person might be made a defendant under a public law.
§48.8.1.2Et qui hominem occiderit, punitur non habita differentia, cuius condicionis hominem interemit.
And he who has killed a human being is punished without any distinction being made as to the status of the person he killed.
§48.8.1.3Diuus Hadrianus rescripsit eum, qui hominem occidit, si non occidendi animo hoc admisit, absolui posse, et qui hominem non occidit, sed uulnerauit, ut occidat, pro homicida damnandum: et ex re constituendum hoc: nam si gladium strinxerit et in eo percusserit, indubitate occidendi animo id eum admisisse: sed si claui percussit aut cuccuma in rixa, quamuis ferro percusserit, tamen non occidendi animo.
The Divine Hadrian issued a rescript that a person who has killed a human being can be acquitted if he did this without the intent to kill, and that he who has not killed a human being, but has wounded him so that he might kill him, is to be condemned as a murderer; and that this must be determined from the circumstances: for if he drew a sword and struck with it, he undoubtedly did this with the intent to kill; but if he struck with a key or a kettle in a quarrel, even though he struck with iron, yet it was without the intent to kill.
leniendam poenam eius, qui in rixa casu magis quam uoluntate homicidium admisit.
The punishment of one who committed a homicide in a quarrel by accident rather than by design is to be mitigated.
§48.8.1.4Item diuus Hadrianus rescripsit eum, qui stuprum sibi uel suis per uim inferentem occidit, dimittendum.
Likewise, the Divine Hadrian issued a rescript that he who has killed someone attempting to commit a sexual assault by force upon himself or his family is to be discharged.
§48.8.1.5Sed et in eum, qui uxorem deprehensam in adulterio occidit, diuus Pius leuiorem poenam irrogandam esse scripsit, et humiliore loco positum in exilium perpetuum dari iussit, in aliqua dignitate positum ad tempus relegari.
But also in the case of him who has killed his wife caught in adultery, the Divine Pius wrote that a lighter punishment is to be imposed, and ordered that a person of lower status is to be sentenced to perpetual exile, and one of some dignity is to be relegated for a time.

Notes

  1. §48.8.1.prcuiusue — cuiusue consists of the genitive singular of the relative pronoun qui (cuius) and the enclitic conjunction -ue ('or'). Grammatically, it coordinates with the initial qui introducing the subject of tenetur. The antecedent is the implied is (the person liable), and cuius functions as a genitive of possession or agency ('by whose [malice]...') within its own relative clause.
  2. §48.8.1.prfurtiue — Although spelled as the adverb furtiue ('furtively') in some manuscripts, it is conventionally interpreted here as a corruption or variant of furti (genitive of furtum, theft) combined with faciendi, forming a gerundive construction (furti faciendi causa, 'for the purpose of committing a theft') in parallel with hominis occidendi causa.
  3. §48.8.1.2non habita differentia, cuius condicionis hominem interemit — non habita differentia is an ablative absolute phrase ('no distinction being made'). The following phrase cuius condicionis is a genitive of quality, which qualifies hominem (the object of interemit) within an indirect question or qualitative clause explaining the status of the victim.
  4. §48.8.1.3eum, qui hominem occidit, si non occidendi animo hoc admisit, absolui posse — This is an accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of rescripsit ('issued a rescript'). The subject accusative is eum (qualified by the relative clause), and the infinitive is absolui posse ('can be acquitted'). The subsequent clauses (damnandum, constituendum, leniendam poenam) similarly depend on rescripsit with the omission of esse.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.8.1.pr-48.8.1.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.8.1.pr-48.8.1.5

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