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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.16.16.pr-49.16.16.1

Discharge of Evading Enlistees and Execution for Mutiny

Passage 8618 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It regulates the treatment of those who enlist in the military to escape criminal prosecution, and prescribes the death penalty for soldiers who disturb the peace.

[PAULUS libro quinto sententiarum. ] §49.16.16.prQui metu criminis, in quo iam reus fuerat postulatus, nomen militiae dedit, statim sacramento soluendus est.
[PAULUS, from the fifth book of Opinions.] He who, out of fear of a crime for which he had already been prosecuted as a defendant, has enlisted in the military, must immediately be released from his military oath.
§49.16.16.1Miles turbator pacis capite punitur.
A soldier who is a disturber of the peace is punished with death.

Notes

  1. §49.16.16.prreus fuerat postulatus — The perfect passive participle postulatus of the verb postulare (to prosecute, accuse) is used with reus (defendant) to mean "to be prosecuted as a defendant." Together with the auxiliary fuerat, it forms the pluperfect passive, indicating that the prosecution had already been initiated prior to the enlistment (dedit).
  2. §49.16.16.prsacramento soluendus est — soluendus est is a passive periphrastic construction (gerundive + est) expressing obligation ("must be released"). The ablative sacramento is an ablative of separation, referring to the solemn military oath taken upon enlistment, from which the person must be discharged.
  3. §49.16.16.1capite punitur — capite is the ablative singular of caput (head, life, civil status), denoting the penalty. The phrase capite punire (or damnare) is a well-known legal idiom in Roman law meaning "to punish with death" (inflict capital punishment).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.16.16.pr-49.16.16.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.16.16.pr-49.16.16.1

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