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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.144.pr

Definition and Meaning of the Term Pellex

Passage 8958 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus, quoting Massurius and Granius Flaccus, discusses the definition of the term 'pellex' (mistress) in ancient and modern times, and its relationship to similar terms like 'amica', 'concubina', and 'pallake'.

[PAULUS libro decimo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §50.16.144.prLibro memorialium Massurius scribit 'pellicem' apud antiquos eam habitam, quae, cum uxor non esset, cum aliquo tamen uiuebat: quam nunc uero nomine amicam, paulo honestiore concubinam appellari.
[PAULUS, from the tenth book on the Lex Iulia et Papia.]\n\nMassurius writes in his book of Memorials that among the ancients, a woman was deemed a 'pellex' (mistress) who, although she was not a wife, nevertheless lived with some man; and that now she is called 'amica' (friend) by her true name, and 'concubina' (concubine) by a somewhat more respectable name.
Granius Flaccus in libro de iure Papiriano scribit pellicem nunc uolgo uocari, quae cum eo, cui uxor sit, corpus misceat: quosdam eam, quae uxoris loco sine nuptiis in domo sit, quam παλλακὴν Graeci uocant.
Granius Flaccus writes in his book on the Papirian Law that nowadays a woman is commonly called a 'pellex' who unites bodily with one who has a wife; and that some [call by this name] a woman who is in the house in the position of a wife without marriage, whom the Greeks call 'pallake'.

Notes

  1. §50.16.144.prhabitam — Ellipsis of habitam [esse]. The verb habeo here is used not in the sense of "to have" but "to regard" or "to deem", with eam as the subject of the accusative-with-infinitive construction.
  2. §50.16.144.prquosdam — The subject of an accusative-with-infinitive clause governed by the preceding Granius Flaccus ... scribit. A predicate verb such as uocare [pellicem] ("to call [a pellex]") is understood to be omitted.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.144.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.144.pr

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