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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.2.3.pr-50.2.3.3

Reinstatement after Suspension and Eligibility for the Order

Passage 8684 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the difference in treatment between those relegated for a time and those suspended from the order, and addresses the eligibility of illegitimate sons and adherents of the Jewish religion to enter the decurionate.

[IDEM libro tertio de officio proconsulis. ] §50.2.3.prGeneraliter id erit defendendum, ut qui clementiorem sententiam passus est ob hoc, quod ad tempus relegatur, boni consulere debeat humanitatis sententiae nec decurionatum recipiat.
[THE SAME, In the Third Book on the Office of Proconsul.] Generally, it is to be maintained that he who has received a milder sentence because of his being relegated for a time, ought to be content with the merciful sentence and not recover his decurionship.
§50.2.3.1Sed si quis ob falsam causam uel aliam de grauioribus non ad tempus sit relegatus, sed ad tempus ordine motus, in ea est causa, ut possit in ordinem redire.
But if anyone, on account of a false charge or some other of the more serious causes, has not been relegated for a time, but suspended from the order for a time, he is in such a position that he can return to the order.
imperator enim Antoninus edicto proposito statuit, ut cuicumque aut quacumque causa ad tempus ordine uel aduocationibus uel quo alio officio fuisset interdictum, completo tempore nihilo minus fungi honore uel officio possit.
For the Emperor Antoninus, by a published edict, established that whoever or for whatever cause had been suspended for a time from the order, or from advocacy, or from any other office, might nevertheless, when the time has expired, hold the honor or office.
et hoc recte: neque enim exaggeranda fuit sententia, quae modum interdictioni fecerat.
And this is right; for the sentence, which had set a limit to the suspension, ought not to have been made more severe.
§50.2.3.2Spurios posse in ordinem allegi nulla dubitatio est: sed si habeat competitorem legitime quaesitum, praeferri eum oportet, diui fratres Lolliano Auito Bithyniae praesidi rescripserunt.
There is no doubt that illegitimate sons can be elected into the order; but if he has a competitor born in lawful wedlock, the latter ought to be preferred, as the deified brothers replied by rescript to Lollianus Avitus, Governor of Bithynia.
cessantibus uero his etiam spurii ad decurionatum et re et uita honesta recipientur: quod utique non sordi erit ordini, cum ex utilitate eius sit semper ordinem plenum habere.
But in the absence of these, even illegitimate sons shall be admitted to the decurionate, provided they are of honest means and life; which certainly will be no disgrace to the order, since it is for its benefit always to have the order full.
§50.2.3.3Eis, qui Iudaicam superstitionem sequuntur, diui Seuerus et Antoninus honores adipisci permiserunt, sed et necessitates eis imposuerunt, qui superstitionem eorum non laederent.
To those who follow the Jewish superstition, the deified Severus and Antoninus permitted the obtaining of honors, but they also imposed on them such obligations as would not offend their superstition.

Notes

  1. 50.2.3.prboni consulere debeat humanitatis sententiae — The idiom "boni consulere" (to be content with, to interpret favorably) usually takes an accusative, but here "sententiae" is used in the genitive (or dative), with "humanitatis" modifying "sententiae".
  2. 50.2.3.1exaggeranda fuit sententia — The gerundive "exaggeranda" combined with "fuit" (indicative perfect) expresses past obligation or propriety ("ought to have been made more severe").
  3. 50.2.3.2et re et uita honesta — An ablative phrase. The adjective "honesta" (feminine singular) grammatically agrees with the nearest noun "uita" but semantically modifies both "re" (means) and "uita" (life), which were required qualifications for entering the decurionate.
  4. 50.2.3.3qui superstitionem eorum non laederent — The subjunctive imperfect "laederent" is used in the relative clause to denote the characteristic or limitation of the antecedent "necessities" ("such obligations as would not offend...").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.2.3.pr-50.2.3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.2.3.pr-50.2.3.3

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