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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.7.17.pr-50.7.17.1

Undertaking Multiple Embassies and Lawsuits against Envoys

Passage 8753 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage regulates the conditions under which the same person may undertake multiple embassies, and the rules regarding representation in lawsuits before and during the embassy.

[IDEM libro octauo regularum. ] §50.7.17.prEundem plures legationes suscipere prohibitum non est praeterea, si et sumptus et itineris compendium suadeat.
[THE SAME, from the eighth book of Rules.] It is not prohibited for the same person to undertake several embassies, moreover, if both the saving of expense and the shortness of the journey make it advisable.
§50.7.17.1Ante legationem susceptam si cui negotium moueatur, etiam absens defendi debet: suscepta legatione non nisi iniuncto munere fungatur.
If legal proceedings are instituted against anyone before he undertakes an embassy, he must be defended even in his absence; once the embassy has been undertaken, he should perform only the duty imposed upon him.

Notes

  1. §50.7.17.pret sumptus et itineris compendium suadeat — The singular noun 'compendium' (saving, shortcut) can be understood to govern both genitives, 'sumptus' (of expense) and 'itineris' (of the journey), in a common modification. Alternatively, 'sumptus' could be taken as a plural nominative ('both expenses and the saving of the journey'), but interpreting both as genitives depending on 'compendium' ('both the saving of expense and of the journey') fits the context of administrative efficiency better.
  2. §50.7.17.1Ante legationem susceptam — A dominant participle construction where the preposition 'ante' governs the noun 'legationem' modified by the passive participle 'susceptam', meaning 'before the undertaking of the embassy' (literally 'before the undertaken embassy').
  3. §50.7.17.1non nisi iniuncto munere fungatur — The phrase 'non nisi' (not except, only) restricts the ablative phrase 'iniuncto munere' (the assigned duty), which is governed by the deponent verb 'fungatur' (jussive subjunctive of fungor, which takes the ablative). It expresses that he should perform nothing other than the duty imposed upon him.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.7.17.pr-50.7.17.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.7.17.pr-50.7.17.1

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