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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.98.pr-50.16.98.2

Birthdays on Leap Days and Rules on the Intercalary Month

Passage 8912 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the treatment of the birthday on the sixth day before the Kalends in leap years, as well as the views of Cato and Quintus Mucius on the intercalary month and its days in the Roman calendar.

[IDEM libro trigensimo nono digestorum. ] §50.16.98.prCum bisextum kalendis est, nihil refert, utrum priore an posteriore die quis natus sit, et deinceps sextum kalendas eius natalis dies est: nam id biduum pro uno die habetur.
[THE SAME, Digests, book 39.] When there is a bissextile day, it makes no difference whether a person was born on the prior or the posterior day, and henceforth the sixth day before the Kalends is his birthday; for those two days are held as one day.
sed posterior dies intercalatur, non prior: ideo quo anno intercalatum non est sexto kalendas natus, cum bisextum kalendis est, priorem diem natalem habet.
But the posterior day is intercalated, not the prior: therefore, one born on the sixth day before the Kalends in a year which was not intercalated has the prior day as his birthday when there is a bissextile day.
§50.16.98.1Cato putat mensem intercalarem additicium esse: omnesque eius dies pro momento temporis obseruat extremoque diei mensis Februarii adtribuit Quintus Mucius.
Cato thinks that the intercalary month is supplementary, and he regards all its days as a mere moment of time; and Quintus Mucius attributes it to the last day of the month of February.
§50.16.98.2Mensis autem intercalaris constat ex diebus uiginti octo.
The intercalary month, moreover, consists of twenty-eight days.

Notes

  1. §50.16.98.prbisextum — bisextum (or bisextus) refers to the bissextile day in the Roman calendar. In a leap year, the sixth day before the Kalends of March (a.d. VI Kal. Mart., i.e., February 24) was repeated twice, hence called "twice-sixth" (bis-sextum).
  2. §50.16.98.prsextum kalendas — sextum kalendas is short for sextum diem ante kalendas Martias (the sixth day before the Kalends of March), which corresponds to February 24. It refers to February 24 in an ordinary year and both of the repeated days in a leap year.
  3. §50.16.98.prsed posterior dies intercalatur, non prior — A decision on which of the two repeated days of February 24 in a leap year is considered "intercalated" (inserted). The posterior day (the second day) is deemed the intercalated one, meaning that a person born on February 24 in an ordinary year keeps the prior day (the first of the two) as their birthday in a leap year.
  4. §50.16.98.1pro momento temporis — Represents Cato's view that the entire intercalary month is not counted as ordinary calendar days, but rather treated as a mere passage of time or a "temporary moment." This prevents the intercalary month from affecting the calculation of legal periods.
  5. §50.16.98.1extremoque diei ... adtribuit — extremo diei is dative, with Februarii modifying mensis. Quintus Mucius argued, in contrast to Cato's view, that the entire duration of the intercalary month should be attributed (assigned) to the single last day of February.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.98.pr-50.16.98.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.98.pr-50.16.98.2

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