Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.15.8.pr

Conditions for Recovering a Captured Wife by Postliminium

Passage 8579 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains the conditions under which a captured wife can be recovered by her husband by the right of postliminium—requiring her consent and that she has not remarried after the established period—noting that refusing without a probable cause results in penalties for divorce.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §49.15.8.prNon ut a patre filius, ita uxor a marito iure postliminii recuperari potest, sed tunc, cum et uoluerit mulier et adhuc alii post constitutum tempus nupta non est: quod si noluerit nulla causa probabili interueniente, poenis discidii tenebitur.
[PAULUS, from the Third Book on the Julian and Papian Law.] A wife cannot be recovered by her husband by the right of postliminium in the same manner as a son by his father, but only then, when the woman herself both wishes it and has not yet married another after the established period; but if she does not wish it, and no probable cause intervenes, she will be liable to the penalties of divorce.

Notes

  1. §49.15.8.prNon ut a patre filius, ita uxor a marito — The correlative construction ut... ita... ("just as... so...") is negated by non at the beginning of the sentence, indicating a restriction: a wife is not recovered by her husband in the same automatic or unilateral manner as a son is recovered by his father. The main verb recuperari potest is understood to be supplied in the comparative clause (a patre filius).
  2. §49.15.8.prquod si — The neuter singular accusative relative pronoun quod is used transitionally at the beginning of the clause with si, functioning as a connective meaning "but if" or "now if," referring back generally to the previous context.
  3. §49.15.8.prnulla causa probabili interueniente — An ablative absolute construction formed by the present participle interueniente and the noun phrase nulla causa probabili. It modifies noluerit, carrying a concessive ("although no plausible reason intervenes") or conditional ("if no plausible reason intervenes") force.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.15.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.15.8.pr

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