Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.1.15.pr-50.1.15.3

Restoration of Decurions and Sanctions for Evading Civic Duties

Passage 8658 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses restrictions on restored decurions, the relation between court penalties and legal infamy, liabilities of nominating successors, confiscation of land transferred to evade civic duties, and the impact of adoption on origin rights.

[IDEM libro primo responsorum. ] §50.1.15.prOrdine decurionum ad tempus motus et in ordinem regressus ad honorem, exemplo relegati, tanto tempore non admittitur, quanto dignitate caruit.
[The same, Opinions, Book I] A person temporarily removed from the order of decurions and restored to the order is not admitted to office, after the example of an exile, for as long a time as he was deprived of his dignity.
sed in utroque placuit examinari, quo crimine damnati sententiam eiusmodi meruerunt: durioribus etenim poenis affectos ignominia uelut transacto negotio postea liberari, minoribus uero, quam leges permittunt, subiectos nihilo minus inter infames haberi, cum facti quidem quaestio sit in potestate iudicantium, iuris autem auctoritas non sit.
But in both cases it has been decided that it must be examined by what crime those condemned merited such a sentence; for those affected by heavier penalties than the laws permit are afterwards freed from infamy as if the matter were concluded, but those subjected to lesser penalties than the laws permit are nevertheless held among the infamous, since the investigation of the fact indeed is in the power of the judges, but the authority of the law is not.
§50.1.15.1In eum, qui successorem suo periculo nominauit, si finito magistratu successor idoneus fuit, actionem dari non oportet.
Against one who has nominated a successor at his own risk, if the successor was suitable when the magistracy ended, an action ought not to be granted.
§50.1.15.2In fraudem ciuilium munerum per tacitam fidem praedia translata fisco uindicantur tantumque alterum interdictae rei minister de suis bonis cogitur soluere.
Estates transferred through a tacit trust to evade civic duties are confiscated to the treasury, and the agent of the prohibited transaction is compelled to pay just as much again from his own property.
§50.1.15.3Ius originis in honoribus obeundis ac muneribus suscipiendis adoptione non mutatur: sed nouis quoque muneribus filius per adoptiuum patrem adstringitur.
The law of origin in performing offices and undertaking duties is not changed by adoption; but a son is also bound to new duties through his adoptive father.

Notes

  1. 50.1.15.prdurioribus etenim poenis affectos... liberari — This clause, introduced by etenim (for), takes the form of indirect speech (accusative with infinitive). The subject accusative affectos (and the contrasted subiectos) governs the passive infinitive liberari (and haberi), explaining the legal reasoning or established opinion underlying the preceding decision (placuit).
  2. 50.1.15.prcum facti quidem quaestio sit... — The conjunction cum expresses cause ("since/because") and takes the subjunctive present sit. The terms facti (of fact) and iuris (of law) are restricting (or objective) genitives modifying quaestio (question/inquiry) and auctoritas (authority) respectively.
  3. 50.1.15.2tantumque alterum — The phrase tantum alterum means "just as much again" or "an equivalent amount," referring to a fine equal in value to the confiscated estate. It is in the neuter accusative singular, functioning as the direct object of the verb soluere (to pay).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.1.15.pr-50.1.15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.1.15.pr-50.1.15.3

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.