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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.9.1.pr

Scope of Relatives and Attempted Poisoning in Parricide

Passage 8257 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage outlines the provisions of the Pompeian law on parricide, specifying the range of relatives whose killing is penalized under the Cornelian law on assassins, and notes that purchasing poison with intent to kill a father is also punishable.

[MARCIANUS libro quarto decimo institutionum. ] §48.9.1.prLege Pompeia de parricidiis cauetur, ut, si quis patrem matrem, auum auiam, fratrem sororem patruelem matruelem, patruum auunculum amitam, consobrinum consobrinam, uxorem uirum generum socrum, uitricum, priuignum priuignam, patronum patronam occiderit cuiusue dolo malo id factum erit, ut poena ea teneatur quae est legis Corneliae de sicariis.
[MARCIANUS, Institutions, Book 14] By the Pompeian law on parricide it is provided that, if anyone should kill his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, cousin on the father's side, cousin on the mother's side, paternal uncle, maternal uncle, paternal aunt, cousin, wife, husband, son-in-law, mother-in-law, stepfather, stepson, stepdaughter, patron, or patroness, or if it was brought about by anyone's malicious intent, he shall be liable to the penalty which is prescribed by the Cornelian law on assassins.
sed et mater, quae filium filiamue occiderit, eius legis poena adficitur, et auus, qui nepotem occiderit: et praeterea qui emit uenenum ut patri daret, quamuis non potuerit dare.
But also a mother who kills her son or daughter is subject to the penalty of that law, as is a grandfather who kills his grandson; and furthermore, anyone who buys poison to give to his father, even though he was not able to give it.

Notes

  1. §48.9.1.prut, si quis ... ut poena ea teneatur — The 'ut' clause introduced by the impersonal passive 'cauetur' (it is provided) is repeated as 'ut poena...' after a long intervening conditional clause. This double 'ut' is a pleonastic repetition used for clarity in long Latin periods.
  2. §48.9.1.prcuiusue dolo malo — The word 'cuiusue' consists of 'cuius' (genitive of the indefinite pronoun 'quis') and the enclitic particle '-ue' (or). Combined with 'dolo malo', it means 'or by anyone's malicious intent', introducing an alternative condition parallel to 'si quis'.
  3. §48.9.1.pret praeterea qui emit — The relative clause 'qui emit...' functions as another subject for the preceding verb phrase 'poena adficitur' (is affected by the penalty), with the main verb omitted. It should be understood as 'and furthermore, he who buys... [is also subject to the penalty]'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.9.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.9.1.pr

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