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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.7.12.pr-50.7.12.1

Delegation of Embassy and Exceptional Litigation for Wards

Passage 8748 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On whether one can send an embassy through another when charged with a gratuitous embassy while absent, and on the permission exceptionally granted by the Emperor to an envoy to prepare and defend a case on behalf of a female ward.

[IDEM libro singulari de iure libellorum. ] §50.7.12.prSi absenti iniuncta est legatio eamque gratuitam suscepit, potest quis et per alium legationem mittere.
[THE SAME, from the single book on the law of petitions.] If an embassy has been imposed on an absent person and he has undertaken it gratuitously, one can also send an embassy through another.
§50.7.12.1Qui legationis officio fungitur, licet suum negotium curare non potest, Magnus tamen Antoninus permisit ei pupillae nomine et instruere et defendere causam, licet legationi, quam suscepit, nondum renuntiauerit, praecipue cum participem officii ipsius absentem esse dicebat.
Although he who performs the office of an embassy cannot care for his own business, the Great Antoninus nevertheless permitted him, in the name of a female ward, both to prepare and to defend a case, although he has not yet resigned the embassy which he undertook, especially when he (the Emperor) stated that the partner of his office himself was absent.

Notes

  1. §50.7.12.prabsenti — The dative masculine singular of the adjective absens (absent) used substantively, serving as the indirect object of the passive verb iniuncta est (has been imposed).
  2. §50.7.12.1licet suum negotium curare non potest — The conjunction licet introduces a concessive clause ("although") with the indicative potest. While classical Latin typically requires the subjunctive, the indicative is frequently found in post-classical and legal Latin.
  3. §50.7.12.1licet legationi, quam suscepit, nondum renuntiauerit — In this concessive clause within the same sentence, licet is followed by the subjunctive (perfect subjunctive renuntiauerit) in accordance with classical norms. The verb renuntiare (to resign/renounce) governs the dative, here modifying legationi (dative singular), which is also the antecedent of the relative pronoun quam.
  4. §50.7.12.1participem officii ipsius absentem esse dicebat — The subject of dicebat is the main clause's subject, Magnus Antoninus. The phrase participem officii ipsius is the subject of the accusative-and-infinitive construction, with absentem esse as the infinitive. ipsius (genitive) refers to the envoy himself (ei), and particeps officii refers to his colleague or partner in the embassy.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.7.12.pr-50.7.12.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.7.12.pr-50.7.12.1

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