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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.15.23.pr

Return from Captivity and Paternal Power over Grandchildren

Passage 8595 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment regulates the acquisition of paternal rights over a grandchild born during the grandfather's captivity, upon the grandfather's return by postliminium.

[IDEM libro sexagensimo nono digestorum. ] §49.15.23.prSi quis praegnate uxore relicta in hostium potestatem peruenerit, mox natus filius eius uxore ducta filium uel filiam procreauerit ac tunc postliminio auus reuersus fuerit: omnia iura nepotis nomine perinde capiet, ac si filius natus in ciuitate fuisset.
[THE SAME, Book 69 of Digests] anyone, having left his pregnant wife, has come into the power of the enemy, and subsequently his son who was born has taken a wife and begotten a son or a daughter, and then the grandfather has returned by postliminium: he will acquire all rights in the name of the grandchild in the same manner as if the son had been born in the state.

Notes

  1. 49.15.23.prpraegnate uxore relicta — praegnate is an alternative spelling of praegnante, the ablative singular feminine of praegnas (pregnant). Together with relicta (perfect passive participle of relinquere in the ablative feminine singular), it forms an ablative absolute with uxore.
  2. 49.15.23.prperinde... ac si... fuisset — A correlation between the comparative adverb perinde (in the same manner) and the conditional conjunction ac si (as if), which introduces a past-contrary-to-fact clause. The pluperfect subjunctive fuisset is used because the son was in fact born while the father was in captivity, not under normal civil conditions.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.15.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.15.23.pr

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