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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.135.pr

Birth of Deformed Offspring and Legal Privileges

Passage 8949 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus discusses whether a woman who gives birth to a deformed, monstrous, or animal-like child should still receive legal benefits for childbirth, concluding that she should because the outcome was due to fate rather than any fault of the parents.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §50.16.135.prQuaeret aliquis si portentosum uel monstrosum uel debilem mulier ediderit uel qualem uisu uel uagitu nouum, non humanae figurae, sed alterius, magis animalis quam hominis, partum, an, quia enixa est, prodesse ei debeat? et magis est, ut haec quoque parentibus prosint: nec enim est quod eis imputetur, quae qualiter potuerunt, statutis obtemperauerunt, neque id quod fataliter accessit, matri damnum iniungere debet.
[ULPIANUS, from the fourth book on the Lex Iulia et Papia.] Someone might ask whether, if a woman has given birth to a portentous or monstrous or deformed child, or one that is strange in appearance or cry, not of human form but of another, more like an animal than a human, this ought to benefit her because she has given birth. And it is more correct that these also should benefit the parents: for there is no reason why it should be imputed to them, since they, in the way they were able, complied with the statutes, nor should that which happened by fate inflict a loss upon the mother.

Notes

  1. 50.16.135.prQuaeret aliquis si ... ediderit ... an ... debeat — The main syntax consists of the main future verb `Quaeret aliquis` governing the indirect question clause introduced by `an ... debeat`, inside of which the conditional clause `si ... ediderit` (perfect subjunctive or future perfect indicative) is embedded. The clause with `an` serves as the object of `Quaeret`.
  2. 50.16.135.prquae qualiter potuerunt — The relative pronoun in the nominative feminine plural `quae` is used as a relative connection (connecting relative). It refers back to the mothers (the women who gave birth) implied by the context or within `parentibus`. Translating it as 'since they...' or 'for they...' maintains the tight logical connection.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.135.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.135.pr

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