Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.4.11.pr-50.4.11.4

Order of Honors and Limits on Immunities

Passage 8708 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text provides imperial regulations concerning the progressive conferment of honors, limits on municipal class preferences, restrictions on immunities in cases of shortage, the rejection of previously approved physicians, and the exclusion of elementary teachers from exemptions.

[IDEM libro undecimo pandectarum. ] §50.4.11.prUt gradatim honores deferantur, edicto, et ut a minoribus ad maiores perueniatur, epistula diui Pii ad Titianum exprimitur.
[THE SAME, In the Eleventh Book of the Pandects.] That honors are to be conferred step by step is expressed by an edict, and that progress is to be made from lesser to greater ones is expressed by a letter of the divine Pius to Titianus.
§50.4.11.1Etsi lege municipali caueatur, ut praeferantur in honoribus certae condicionis homines: attamen sciendum est hoc esse obseruandum, si idonei sint: et ita rescripto diui Marci continetur.
Although it is provided by municipal law that persons of a certain condition should be preferred for honors, nevertheless it must be known that this is to be observed only if they are suitable; and this is so contained in a rescript of the divine Marcus.
§50.4.11.2Quotiens penuria est eorum, qui magistratum suscipiunt, immunitas ad aliquid infringitur, sicuti diui fratres rescripserunt.
Whenever there is a scarcity of those who undertake a magistracy, immunity is infringed to some extent, just as the divine brothers wrote in a rescript.
§50.4.11.3Reprobari posse medicum a re publica, quamuis semel probatus sit, diuus Magnus Antoninus cum patre rescripsit.
That a physician, although once approved, can be rejected by the municipality, the divine Antoninus the Great with his father wrote in a rescript.
§50.4.11.4Eos, qui primis litteris pueros inducunt, non habere uacationem diuus Magnus Antoninus rescripsit.
That those who instruct boys in the first elements of letters do not have an exemption, the divine Antoninus the Great wrote in a rescript.

Notes

  1. 50.4.11.predicto — The verb `exprimitur` at the end of the sentence is also understood with the first clause containing `edicto`, forming a parallel structure: `ut gradatim honores deferantur, edicto [exprimitur]`.
  2. 50.4.11.pra minoribus ad maiores — Comparative adjectives in the plural; in this context, they refer back to the preceding noun `honores` ('from lesser [honors/offices] to greater ones').
  3. 50.4.11.1hoc esse obseruandum — An accusative-with-infinitive construction where the pronoun `hoc` (subject) refers back to the preceding `ut` clause (the provision for preference in the municipal law).
  4. 50.4.11.2ad aliquid — The preposition `ad` with the accusative of the neuter pronoun `aliquid`, acting as an adverbial phrase meaning 'to some extent' or 'partially,' limiting the scope of `infringitur`.
  5. 50.4.11.3re publica — In the context of municipal administration, `res publica` refers to the local municipality or city commonwealth, rather than the Roman Empire as a whole.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.4.11.pr-50.4.11.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.4.11.pr-50.4.11.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.