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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.46.pr-50.16.46.1

Equivalence of Pronounced and Decided and Definition of Mater Familias

Passage 8860 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that the legal terms 'pronounced' and 'decided' have the same meaning, and that the definition of a 'mother of a family' depends on her good morals rather than her birth or marital status.

[IDEM libro quinquagensimo nono ad edictum. ] §50.16.46.prPronuntiatum' et 'statutum' idem potest: promiscue enim et pronuntiasse et statuisse solemus dicere eos, qui ius habent cognoscendi. '
[THE SAME, in the fifty-ninth book on the Edict.] 'Pronounced' and 'decided' have the same force; for we are accustomed to say indiscriminately that those who have the right of judicial investigation have both 'pronounced' and 'decided'.
§50.16.46.1Matrem familias' accipere debemus eam, quae non inhoneste uixit: matrem enim familias a ceteris feminis mores discernunt atque separant.
We ought to understand as a 'mother of a family' her who has not lived dishonestly; for it is her morals that distinguish and separate a mother of a family from other women.
proinde nihil intererit, nupta sit an uidua, ingenua sit an libertina: nam neque nuptiae neque natales faciunt matrem familias, sed boni mores.
Therefore, it will make no difference whether she is married or a widow, freeborn or a freedwoman; for neither marriage nor birth makes a mother of a family, but good morals.

Notes

  1. §50.16.46.pridem potest — Combining the third-person singular 'potest' of the verb 'posse' with the neuter accusative singular 'idem' (functioning adverbially or as an internal object), this is an idiomatic expression meaning "to have the same force" or "to mean the same thing."
  2. §50.16.46.prdicere eos, qui ius habent cognoscendi — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction is formed as the complement of the verb 'dicere'. The pronoun 'eos' (with its relative clause 'qui...') acts as the subject accusative, while the perfect active infinitives 'et pronuntiasse et statuisse' ('both to have pronounced and to have decided') serve as the infinitives. 'cognoscendi' is the genitive of the gerund modifying 'ius' (the right of judicial investigation).
  3. §50.16.46.1nihil intererit, nupta sit an uidua — The future tense of the impersonal expression 'nihil interest' ('it makes no difference') is followed by a double (disjunctive) indirect question. The present subjunctive 'sit' is used, meaning "it will make no difference whether she is married or a widow."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.46.pr-50.16.46.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.46.pr-50.16.46.1

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