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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.15.7.pr-49.15.7.2

Status of Allied Peoples and Postliminium

Passage 8578 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses why federated and free peoples are considered foreigners and thus exempt from the right of postliminium, defines a free people using the analogy of clients, and addresses criminal jurisdiction over citizens of federated states.

[PROCULUS libro octauo epistularum. ] §49.15.7.prNon dubito, quin foederati et liberi nobis externi sint, nec inter nos atque eos postliminium esse: etenim quid inter nos atque eos postliminio opus est, cum et illi apud nos et libertatem suam et dominium rerum suarum aeque atque apud se retineant et eadem nobis apud eos contingant? §49.15.7.1Liber autem populus est is, qui nullius alterius populi potestati est subiectus: siue is foederatus est item, siue aequo foedere in amicitiam uenit siue foedere comprehensum est, ut is populus alterius populi maiestatem comiter conseruaret.
[PROCULUS, from the Eighth Book of Epistles.]\n\nI do not doubt that confederates and free men are foreigners to us, and that there is no right of postliminium between us and them; for indeed, what need of postliminium is there between us and them, since they retain both their liberty and the ownership of their own property among us just as much as in their own country, and the same things apply to us among them?\n\nNow, a free people is one that is subject to the power of no other people, whether it is likewise federated, or has entered into friendship by an equal treaty, or if it has been stipulated in the treaty that this people should courteously respect the majesty of the other people.
hoc enim adicitur, ut intellegatur alterum populum superiorem esse, non ut intellegatur alterum non esse liberum: et quemadmodum clientes nostros intellegimus liberos esse, etiamsi neque auctoritate neque dignitate neque uiri boni nobis praesunt, sic eos, qui maiestatem nostram comiter conseruare debent, liberos esse intellegendum est. §49.15.7.2At fiunt apud nos rei ex ciuitatibus foederatis et in eos damnatos animaduertimus.
For this provision is added so that it may be understood that one people is superior, not that the other is not free; and just as we understand our clients to be free, even though they do not excel us in authority, dignity, or the character of a good man, so must it be understood that those who are obliged courteously to respect our majesty are free.\n\nBut persons from federated states do become defendants before us, and we inflict punishment upon them when they are condemned.

Notes

  1. §49.15.7.prnec inter nos atque eos postliminium esse — Following the subjunctive clause introduced by "quin" (sint), an accusative-and-infinitive construction (esse) is placed in coordination as the object of "non dubito". This is an irregular construction where "non dubito" governs both a subjunctive and an infinitive clause.
  2. §49.15.7.prquid ... postliminio opus est — The impersonal expression "opus est" takes the ablative (postliminio) to indicate what is needed. "quid" is used adverbially to mean "why" or "for what purpose".
  3. §49.15.7.1uiri boni — Placed in parallel with the ablatives "auctoritate" (authority) and "dignitate" (dignity), "uiri boni" (of a good man) is in the genitive singular. This is interpreted as a standard of superiority ("in terms of the character of a good man"), implying an omitted ablative such as "arbitrio" or "iudicio", or acting as a genitive of quality.
  4. §49.15.7.2in eos damnatos animaduertimus — "animaduertere in aliquem" is a legal idiom meaning "to inflict punishment on someone" or "to execute a sentence against someone". "damnatos" is a perfect participle modifying the preceding "eos", meaning that punishment is inflicted upon them after they have been condemned.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.15.7.pr-49.15.7.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.15.7.pr-49.15.7.2

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