Theodosius: Liber IV

CTh.4.4.0. De testamentis et codicillis.
CTh.4.5.0. De litigiosis.
CTh.4.6.0. De naturalibus filiis et matribus eorum
CTh.4.7.0. De manumissionibus in ecclesia.

CTh.4.4.0. On testaments and codicils.
CTh.4.5.0. On litigious matters.
CTh.4.6.0. On natural sons and their mothers
CTh.4.7.0. On manumissions in the church.

CTh.4.8.0. De liberali causa
CTh.4.9.0. De his, qui a non domino manumissi sunt.
CTh.4.10.0. De libertis et eorum liberis
CTh.4.11.0. De longi temporis praescriptione
CTh.4.12.0. Ad senatus consultum claudianum
CTh.4.13.0. De vectigalibus et commissis
CTh.4.14.0. [=brev.4.12.0.] De actionibus certo tempore finiendis.
CTh.4.15.0 [=brev.4.13.0.] De quinquennii praescriptione.

CTh.4.8.0. On the cause of liberty
CTh.4.9.0. On those who have been manumitted by one who is not the master.
CTh.4.10.0. On freedmen and their children
CTh.4.11.0. On long-time prescription
CTh.4.12.0. According to the Claudian senatorial decree
CTh.4.13.0. On public dues and forfeitures
CTh.4.14.0. [=brev.4.12.0.] On actions to be ended within a fixed time.
CTh.4.15.0 [=brev.4.13.0.] On the five-year prescription.

CTh.4.16.0. De re iudicata
CTh.4.17.0. De sententiis ex periculo recitandis
CTh.4.18.0. [=brev.4.16.0.] De fructibus et litis expensis.
CTh.4.19.0. [=brev.4.17.0.] De usuris rei iudicatae.
CTh.4.20.0. Qui bonis ex lege iulia cedere possunt
CTh.4.21.0. [=brev.4.19.0.] Quorum bonorum.

CTh.4.16.0. On res judicata
CTh.4.17.0. On judgments to be recited in peril
CTh.4.18.0. [=brev.4.16.0.] On fruits and the expenses of the suit.
CTh.4.19.0. [=brev.4.17.0.] On interest on a res judicata.
CTh.4.20.0. Who can cede their goods under the Lex Julia
CTh.4.21.0. [=brev.4.19.0.] Of which goods.

CTh.4.22.0. [=brev.4.20.0.] Unde vi.
CTh.4.23.0. [=brev.4.21.0.] Utrubi.
CTh.4.24.0. De aedificiis privatis et publicis

CTh.4.22.0. [=brev.4.20.0.] Whence by violence.
CTh.4.23.0. [=brev.4.21.0.] Whichever of the two.
CTh.4.24.0. On private and public edifices

CTh.4.1.0. De cretione vel bonorum possessione.

CTh.4.1.0. On cretion or possession of the goods.

CTh.4.1.1 [=brev.4.1.1]

Impp. theodos. et valentin.

Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian.

aa. ad senatum. post alia: patrem aliqua ex parte minorem esse matribus, non sinemus. nam quum etiam infantis filii morientis mater bonorum solatia consequatur, cur de aetate eius pater graves patiatur tendiculas, non videmus; et quum legitima successio non modo in matre, verum etiam in successoribus longius constitutis non bonorum possessionis petitionem, non cretionis solennitatem cogitur custodire, qualicumque* contenta aditae vel adeundae hereditatis indicio, quanto magis pater talibus est vinculis exuendus?

aa. to the senate. after other things: we will not allow the father to be in some part lesser than mothers. for since even
the mother of a dying infant son obtains the consolations of the goods, why on account of his age the father should suffer heavy snares, we do not see; and since
legitimate succession not only in the mother, but even in successors constituted more distantly, is not compelled to keep the petition for possession of goods, nor the
solemnity of cretion, being content with whatever* indication of an inheritance entered upon or to be entered, how much more must the father be stripped from such
bonds?

atque ideo hac oratione sancimus, ut pater etiam infantis filii successionem, sive ille matre eius moriente adeundae hereditatis vel petendae bonorum possessionis fuerit exsecutus officium, sive ista neglexerit, morienti filio infanti in qualibet aetate sine ambiguitate succedat. dat. viii.

and therefore by this oration we sanction that the father shall also succeed to the succession of an infant son, whether he, upon the child’s mother dying, has executed the office of entering upon the inheritance or of petitioning for the possession of the goods, or whether he has neglected these, he shall succeed to his infant son dying, at whatever age, without ambiguity. given the 8th.

id. nov. ravenna, dd. nn. theodos. xii.

on the ides of november. ravenna, our lords theodosius, 12.

et valentin. ii. aa. coss.

and Valentinian for the 2nd time, the Augusti, consuls.

interpretatio. cretio et bonorum possessio antiquo iure a praetoribus petebatur: quod explanari opus non est, quia legibus utrumque sublatum est. et ideo infans, licet loqui non possit, tamen hereditatem sibi debitam capit, cui morienti pater aut is, qui proximus fuerit, ex lege succedit

interpretation. cretio and possession of goods were sought from the praetors by ancient law: which need not be explained, because both have been removed by the laws. and therefore an infant, although he cannot speak, nevertheless takes the inheritance due to him, to whom, when he dies, the father or he who is nearest succeeds by law

CTh.4.2.0. Unde liberi.

CTh.4.2.0. Whence the children.

CTh.4.2.1 [=brev.4.2.1]

Theodosian Code 4.2.1 [= Breviary 4.2.1]

Impp. arcad. et honor.

The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius.

aa. aureliano pf. p. filia, quae dote a patre suscepta matrimonio sociata est, intestato patre mortuo, si hereditatem velit adire cum fratribus, dotem, quam susceperat, miscere cogatur paternae substantiae atque ita in subeunda hereditate sociari cum fratribus. dat. prid.

The Augusti, to Aurelianus, Praetorian Prefect. A daughter who, with a dowry undertaken by her father, has been joined in matrimony—when her father dies intestate, if she should wish to enter upon the inheritance along with her brothers—must be compelled to commingle the dowry which she had received with the paternal estate, and thus, in the assumption of the inheritance, be associated with her brothers. Given, the day before.

non. oct. constantinopoli, arcadio iv. et honorio iii.

on the nones of october at constantinople, in the consulship of arcadius for the 4th time and honorius for the 3rd time.

aa. coss.

The Emperors, consuls.

interpretatio. filia, si tempore nuptiarum a patre fuerit dotata, et postea pater intestatus moriatur, si in reliqua patris substantia vult cum aliis fratribus aequalis accedere, dotem vel quicquid accepit tempore nuptiarum hereditati paternae cum fratribus dividendam confundat. quod si noluerit, sit his, quae percepit, pro sua portione contenta

interpretation. a daughter, if at the time of her nuptials she shall have been endowed with a dowry by her father, and afterward the father dies intestate, if she wishes to accede as an equal with her other brothers to the remaining substance of the father, let her merge the dowry, or whatever she received at the time of the nuptials, into the paternal inheritance to be divided with her brothers. but if she is unwilling, let her be content with what she has received as her own portion.

CTh.4.3.0. De carboniano edicto.

CTh.4.3.0. On the Carbonian Edict.

CTh.4.3.1 [=brev.4.3.1]

Imppp. valentin., theodos. et arcad.

the emperors valentinian, theodosius, and arcadius.

aaa. rufino pf. p. carbonianum edictum sub personis legitimis indubitato matrimonio, custodito partu et probata legitima successione defertur: scilicet ut in possessione novus heres locatus usque ad pubertatis annos sine inquietudine rebus utatur interdum alienis. dat.

the augusti to rufinus, praetorian prefect. the carbonian edict is conferred upon legitimate persons, with an indubitable marriage, the birth safeguarded,
and the legitimate succession proven: namely, that the new heir, placed in possession, up to the years of puberty, may, without disturbance, make use of the goods,
sometimes of others’. given.

iv. kal. oct. constantinopoli, theodos.

28 September, at Constantinople, Theodosius.

a. iii. et abundantio coss.

a. 3 and abundantio, consuls.

interpretatio. si quis moriens ex legitimo matrimonio praegnantem reliquerit uxorem, iubet lex, mulierem a propinquis, quo usque ad partum veniat, custodiri: quae quum legitimo tempore ediderit, is, qui natus fuerit, pro sua portione in patris hereditate succedat et usque ad quintum et decimum aetatis suae annum, quae a patre derelicta sunt, sine ullius repetitione possideat: futurum, ut suas postmodum per curatorem aut excipiat aut exserat actiones

interpretation. if anyone, dying, has left a pregnant wife from a legitimate matrimony, the law orders that the woman be kept under guard by her kinsfolk, until she comes to delivery: and when she has brought forth at the lawful time, he who shall have been born shall succeed, for his portion, in his father’s inheritance, and up to the fifteenth year of his age he shall possess the things left by the father without any claim for recovery: it will come to pass that afterwards, through a curator, he either receives or asserts his actions

CTh.4.4.0. De testamentis et codicillis.

CTh.4.4.0. On testaments and codicils.

CTh.4.4.1 [=brev.4.4.1]

Imp. constantinus a. et constantius caes. pf. u. in codicillis, quos testamentum non praecedit, sicut in voluntatibus testamenti septem testium vel quinque interventum non deesse oportet: sic enim fiet, ut testantium successiones sine aliqua captione serventur.

The emperors Constantine Augustus and Constantius Caesar, pious, fortunate, victorious, decree that in codicils which no testament precedes, just as in testamentary dispositions, the presence of seven witnesses or of five ought not to be lacking; thus it will come about that the successions of testators are preserved without any chicanery.

si quando igitur testium numerus defecerit, instrumentum codicilli habeatur infirmum. quod et in ceteris voluntatibus placuit observari. dat.

If therefore at any time the number of witnesses should fail, let the instrument of the codicil be held infirm. And it has been decided that this be observed in the other dispositions of will as well. Given.

xi. kal. ian. constantino a. vii.

on the 11th day before the Kalends of January, in the 7th consulship of Constantine Augustus.

et constantio caes. coss.

and Constantius, Caesar, consuls.

interpretatio. si quis non fecerit testamentum, sed vice testamenti fecerit codicillum, in quo codicillo legitima heredis institutio teneatur, et hunc ipsum eodem numero testium, hoc est septem aut quinque subscriptionibus faciat confirmari: si minus quam quinque, valere non poterit, sicuti et ceterae voluntates. nam secundum superiorem legem, si condito testamento postea factus fuerit codicillus, et in eo alium, quam in testamento fecerat, heredem voluerit nominare, in eo codicillo heredis institutio non valebit

interpretation. If someone has not made a testament, but in place of a testament has made a codicil, in which codicil the legitimate institution of an heir is held, and he has this very document confirmed by the same number of witnesses, that is, by seven or by five subscriptions: if fewer than five, it will not be able to be valid, just as the other dispositions. For according to the prior law, if, with a testament having been composed, afterwards a codicil should be made, and in it he should wish to name an heir other than he had made in the testament, in that codicil the institution of an heir will not be valid

CTh.4.4.2pr. [=brev.4.4.2pr.]

Imppp. valentin., theodos. et arcad.

The Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius.

aaa. proculo pf. u. quae codicillis aut epistolis nobis necessitudinibusve nostris relinquuntur, non admittimus; sit ille usus inter privatos ratus. et sane hoc loco praebemus licentiam, ut civiliter sive criminaliter, ut actor elegerit, super prolata epistola requiratur, et incumbat probatio ei primitus, qui scripturam obtulerit.

AAA. To Proculus, Urban Prefect. The things which are bequeathed to us or to our kin by codicils or by letters, we do not admit; let that usage be deemed valid among private persons. And indeed in this matter we grant license that, whether in a civil or in a criminal proceeding, as the plaintiff shall choose, inquiry be made concerning the letter that has been produced, and let the burden of proof rest first upon the one who has proffered the document.

ceterum quod ad nos nostrosque attinet, codicillos et epistolas adeo refutamus, ut ex illis, etiamsi veras eas esse quaestionum regula approbarit, quicquid nobis relictum nostrisve constiterit, ad liberos defuncti vel, si hi non sint, ad proximum quemque iudicii nostri humanitate pertineat.

but as regards us and ours, we so reject codicils
and epistles, that from them, even if the rule of inquiries has approved them to be genuine, whatever shall have been established to have been left to us or to our own,
shall, by the humanity of our judgment, pertain to the children of the deceased or, if these do not exist, to the nearest next of kin.

CTh.4.4.2.1 [=brev.4.4.2.1]

Testamenti vero scripturam legitimam vel nuncupationem, quae in nomen nostrum forte processerit, iure capiemus, nec in ea re distare ius nostrum a privatis heredibus profitemur. dat. mediolani x. kal.

But the legitimate writing of a testament or a nuncupation, which may perhaps have proceeded in our name, we shall lawfully take, nor do we profess that in this matter there is any difference between our right
and that of private heirs. Given at Milan, on the 10th day before the Kalends.

febr., timasio et promoto coss.

feb., in the consulship of Timasius and Promotus.

interpretatio. si quis moriens principi vel propinquis vel amicis eius aliquid per codicillum aut per epistolam crediderit relinquendum, pietatis intuitu id praecipit non valere: sed si quid tali modo privatis fuerit derelictum, et de talibus chartulis orta fuerit fortasse contentio, in iudicis discussione consistat, utrum possit scriptura prolata iure subsistere. ceterum principi vel eius proximis, quicquid testamento aut nuncupatione dimittitur, hoc sibi legibus valere permittitur

interpretation. if anyone, dying, has believed that something ought to be left to the prince or to his relatives or friends, by a codicil or by an epistle,
out of regard for piety it directs that this is not to be valid: but if anything has been left to private persons in such a manner, and perhaps from such little papers there should arise
a contention, let it rest in the judge’s examination whether the writing produced can subsist in law. moreover, for the prince or his nearest, whatever
is bequeathed by testament or by nuncupation, this is permitted by the laws to be valid for them

CTh.4.4.3pr. [=brev.4.4.3pr.]

Theodosian Code 4.4.3 preface. [= Breviary 4.4.3 preface.]

Impp. arcad. et honor.

Emperors Arcadius and Honorius.

aa. aeternali proconsuli asiae. testamentum non ideo infirmari debebit, quod diversis hoc deficiens nominibus appellavit, quum superflua non noceant. praetermissa namque necessaria, non abundans cautela vel contractus imminuit vel testatoris officit voluntati.

aa. to Aeternalis, proconsul of Asia. A testament ought not therefore to be invalidated because the deceased called it by diverse names, since superfluities do not harm. For it is the necessary things left out that either diminishes the contract or hinders the testator’s will, not abundant caution.

CTh.4.4.3.1 [=brev.4.4.3.1]

Nec patimur fidem conditi arbitrii ob hoc debere convelli, si aut maiorem in principio signatorum aut minorem aut nullum numerum conditor suae praedixerit voluntati, quum quinque huic non ignari subscripserint testamento, licet non eisdem series fuerit recensita, sed hic, qui extremum disponit arbitrium, obsignandum porrexerit testamentum.

Nor do we allow the validity of a drawn-up will to be shaken on this account, if the maker has prescribed for his will either a greater number at the head of the signatories, or a lesser, or none at all, since five, not ignorant of this, have subscribed to the testament, although the series was not recited to them, but he, who arranges his last will, has proffered the testament to be sealed.

CTh.4.4.3.2 [=brev.4.4.3.2]

Nec enim novum promulgamus, sed divi constantini sanctionem et inclytae recordationis sententiam patris serenitatis nostrae nostraque super huiusmodi causa, quae sunt ex antiquioribus propagata, secuti decreta statuimus, iis, qui extremas ordinant voluntates, haec esse servanda, ut et praesentes videant subscriptores, et ii, cur venerint, non ignorent, etiamsi iisdem scripturae continentia non fuerit intimata.

For we do not promulgate anything new, but, following the sanction of the deified Constantine and the decision of the father of Our Serenity of illustrious remembrance, and our own decrees on a case of this kind, which have been propagated from earlier ones, we have determined for those who arrange last wills that these things are to be observed, that the subscribers be present to see, and that they not be ignorant why they have come, even if the writing’s contents have not been intimated to the same.

CTh.4.4.3.3 [=brev.4.4.3.3]

Nec si quid ex munificentia morientis fuerint consecuti, infructuosum subscribentes facient testamentum, quum hoc auctorem prudentissimum iurisconsultorum non sit ambiguum scaevolam comprobasse. dat. xii.

Nor, if they have obtained anything from the munificence of the dying man, will the subscribers make the testament ineffective, since it is not doubtful that Scaevola, the most prudent authority among the jurisconsults, has approved this. Given on the 12th.

kal. april. arcadio iv. et honorio iii.

kalends of april, in the consulship of arcadius 4 and honorius 3.

aa. coss.

the augusti, consuls.

interpretatio. si moriens, quum scribit aut dictat chartulam testamenti, praetermiserit forsitan vocabulum ponere, aut civilis, id est, quod quinque testium, aut praetorii iuris, quod septem testium erit subscriptione firmandum; aut si maiorem vel minorem testium numerum se testator in principio dixerit evocasse, usque ad quinque subscriptorum numerum, etiamsi non relegant testamentum, valere permissum est, ita ut, sicut minor numerus impedit voluntatem, sic, quicquid superfuerit, non noceat testamento: quia et lex ipsa constituit, quod superflua iuri impedire non debeant. hoc etiam observandum, ut testator signandum testibus offerat testamentum, nec ideo habeatur infirmum, si alicui de subscriptoribus testator aliquid legati nomine derelinquit

interpretation. if, when dying, when he writes or dictates the paper of the testament, he has perhaps omitted to set down the designation, whether of civil law, that is, that which will have to be confirmed by the subscription of five witnesses, or of praetorian law, which will have to be confirmed by the subscription of seven witnesses; or if the testator shall have said at the beginning that he has summoned a greater or a lesser number of witnesses, up to the number of five subscribers, even if they do not re-read the testament, it is permitted to be valid, in such a way that, just as a smaller number impedes the will, so, whatever is in excess, does not harm the testament: because the law itself also establishes that superfluous things ought not to impede the law. this also must be observed: that the testator offer the testament to the witnesses to be signed, nor for that reason let it be held infirm, if to any one of the subscribers the testator leaves something by way of a legacy

CTh.4.4.4 [=brev.4.4.4]

Iidem aa. africano pf. u. testamenta omnium ceteraque, quae apud officium censuale publicari solent, in eodem reserventur, nec usquam permittatur fieri ulla translatio. mos namque retinendus est fidelissimae vetustatis, quem si quis in hac urbe voluerit immutare, irritam tmoruorum < mortuorum> videri faciet voluntatem. dat.

The same Augusti to Africanus, Urban Prefect. Let the wills of all, and the other documents which are accustomed to be published at the census office, be kept in the same place, and let no transfer anywhere be permitted to be made. For the custom of most faithful antiquity is to be retained, which, if anyone should wish to alter in this city, he will cause the will of the dead to appear void. Given.

vi. kal. oct. constantinopoli, caesario et attico coss.

September 26 at Constantinople, when Caesarius and Atticus were consuls.

interpretatio. testamenta omnia vel reliquas scripturas apud censuales in urbe roma voluit publicari, hoc est, ut in reliquis regionibus apud curiae viros testamenta, vel quaecumque* scripturae actis firmari solent, gestorum allegatione muniantur. si vero mortuorum voluntates actis reservatae non fuerint, nihil valebunt

interpretation. he wished that all testaments or the remaining writings be published with the census‑officials in the city of rome, that is, that in the remaining regions with the men of the curia testaments, or whatever* writings are accustomed to be made firm by the acts, be fortified by allegation of the proceedings. but if indeed the wills of the dead have not been reserved in the acts, they will be of no force

CTh.4.4.5 [=brev.4.4.5]

Theodosian Code 4.4.5 [= Breviary 4.4.5]

Impp. honorii et theodosii aa. edictum ad populum urbis constantinopolitanae et ad omnes provinciales. nolumus convelli deficientium scriptas iure ac solenniter voluntates, dum quoddam morientis supremum et non adscriptum processisse confirmatur arbitrium, tanquam patrimonium suum ad nos deficiens maluerit pertinere.

The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius, Augusti. An edict to the people of the city of Constantinople and to all provincials. We do not wish the written wills of the deceased, made lawfully and solemnly, to be overturned, while it is affirmed that a certain final and unregistered decision of the dying person has proceeded, as though he had preferred his patrimony, failing to heirs, to pertain to us.

omnibus enim privatis et militantibus interdicimus, ne huiusmodi perhibeant testimonia, et falsi criminis reos teneri praecipimus, si, quum scriptae iure ac solenniter deficientium exstiterint voluntates, non scriptum aliquid sub nostrorum nominum mentione falso adstruere moliantur. nemo itaque relictus heres vel legibus ad successionem vocatus nostrum vel potentium nomen horrescat; nemo ferre testimonia in hunc modum vel suscipere gestis huiusmodi voces audeat nostro vel etiam privatorum potentium nomine. maneat arbitrium, quod vera et solennis scriptura commendat; excludatur, si quid adversus eam vel deficientis animum sub deferenda hereditate nostrae perennitati per testimonia non scripta et falso contexta asseveratur; nemo scriptis proprium auferat robur et non scriptis sub praetextu nostri vel potentium nominis ingerat firmamentum.

for we interdict all private persons and soldiers from bearing testimonies of this kind, and we command that they be held as defendants of the crime of falsehood (falsum), if, when the written wills of decedents have existed in due form and solemnly, they attempt to construct something unwritten under mention of our names by a false assertion. therefore let no one left as heir or called by the laws to succession dread our name or the name of the powerful; let no one dare to bring testimonies in this manner or to receive into the gesta such statements in our name or even in the name of private potentiores. let the decision stand which true and solemn writing commends; let it be excluded, if anything against it, or against the intention of the decedent, under the transferring of an inheritance to our perpetuity, is asserted through testimonies not written and falsely woven together; let no one take away the proper strength from writings and insert a prop for non-written things under the pretext of our name or of the name of the powerful.

dat. iv. id. mart. constantinopoli, theodos.

given on 4 days before the ides of march at constantinople, theodosius.

a. vii. et palladio coss.

for the 7th time and Palladius, consuls.

interpretatio. placuit, voluntatem defunctorum ea ratione servari, ut, si deficiens quis non perfecerit testamentum, non potest quicumque* pro perfecto uti, quod imperfectum resedit. nec admittit hanc testificationem principis clementia, si forte dicat aliquis: audivi morientem velle hoc principi vel etiam his personis, quae potestati adiunctae sunt, vel cuiuscumque* potentis taliter deputatum: hanc vocem admitti non patitur. et sicuti legitimas scripturas vel in suam personam vel in quascumque* alias potestates sive in privatos valere mandavit, ita imperfectam et sub tali testificatione prolatam penitus valere non voluit

interpretation. It has pleased that the will of the deceased be preserved in this manner, that, if someone, failing, has not completed a testament, no whoever* can use as perfected that which remained imperfect. Nor does the clemency of the prince admit this testification, if perchance someone should say: I heard the dying man to will this for the prince, or even for those persons who are adjoined to the authority, or assigned in such a way to any* powerful person: he does not allow this utterance to be admitted. And just as he has mandated that legitimate writings—either in his own person or in any* other authorities or in private individuals—be valid, so he did not wish an imperfect one, brought forth under such a testification, to be valid at all

CTh.4.4.6 [=brev.4.4.6]

Iidem aa. palladio pf. p. ne quis post diem mortis scriptis ante decennium testamentis praestetur assensus, nullisque penitus viribus scriptura huiusmodi tempore antiquata taxetur: praesertim quum, si voluntas continuata perstiterit, brevis mora sit, recentibus vetustatem innovare temporibus. vix enim fieri potest, ut per haec tempora, quae fidei amore contraximus, omnem testium conscientiam mors coniurata surripiat, et revera nefas est, ut antiquae deliberationis ordinatio voluntas postrema dicatur. dat.

The same emperors to Palladius, praetorian prefect: let no assent be given after the day of death to testaments written more than a decade before, and let a writing of this sort, antiquated by time, be assessed as utterly without any force: especially since, if the intention continued has persisted, it is a brief delay to renew antiquity with more recent times. For it can scarcely come to pass that, within these terms which we have contracted out of love of good faith, a conspiring death should steal away the whole awareness of the witnesses, and it is truly wrong that the arrangement of an ancient deliberation be called the last will. Given.

x. kal. iul. ravenna, dd. nn. honorio xii.

June 22. Ravenna, our lords.
Honorius 12.

et theodos. viii. aa. coss.

and Theodosius, for the 8th time, the Augusti, consuls.

interpretatio. si quis condito testamento decennio superstes fuerit et suam non mutaverit voluntatem, quod ante decennium factum est, vacuum remanebit

interpretation. if anyone, with a testament having been made, shall have survived for a decade and has not changed his intention, what was done before the decade will remain void

CTh.4.4.7pr. [=brev.4.4.7pr.]

CTh. 4.4.7 preface. [= brev. 4.4.7 preface.]

Imp. theodos. a. asclepiodoto pf. p. si quis agere ex testamento, quolibet modo, sive scripto, sive sine scriptura confecto, de hereditate voluerit, ad fideicommissi persecutionem adspirare cupiens, minime permittatur.

The Emperor Theodosius Augustus to Asclepiodotus, Praetorian Prefect. If anyone should wish to proceed from a testament, in whatever manner—whether composed in writing or concluded without writing—concerning an inheritance, desiring to aspire to the prosecution of a fideicommissum, let it by no means be permitted.

tantum enim abest, ut aditum cuiquam pro suo migrandi desiderio concedamus, ut etiam illud sanciamus, ut, si testator faciens testamentum in eodem pro codicillis etiam id valere complexus sit, qui hereditatem petit ab ipsis intentionis exordiis, utrum velit, eligendi habeat potestatem, sciens, se unius electione alterius sibi aditum praeclusisse; ita ut, sive bonorum possessionem secundum tabulas vel secundum nuncupationem ceterasque similes postularit, aut certe ex edicto divi hadriani se mitti ad possessionem ex more petierit, statim inter ipsa huius iuris auspicia propositum suae intentionis explanet. sic enim, si quis defuncti agnoverit voluntatem, de inofficioso agere prohibetur, et patronus, liberti muneribus electis et operis, contra tabulas bonorum possessione repellitur: sic mulier in edicto, quod de alterutro est, quum suam explanaverit optionem, ne poenitentia possit ad aliud transire, etiam satisdatione cogetur praecavere, nisi si aetatis iuvetur auxilio.

For so far is it from us to grant to anyone an entry to migrate according to his own desire, that we even sanction this besides: that, if a testator, in making a testament, has included that it is to be valid as codicils also in the same instrument, the one who seeks the inheritance, from the very exordia of his intention, shall have the power of choosing which he wills, knowing that by the election of the one he has shut to himself access to the other; such that, whether he has demanded bonorum possession according to the tablets or according to the nuncupation and other similar modes, or indeed has, according to the edict of the deified Hadrian, in the accustomed manner asked to be sent into possession, he shall at once, under the very auspices of this law, make plain the plan of his intention. For thus, if anyone has acknowledged the will of the deceased, he is forbidden to bring the action de inofficioso; and a patron, the gifts and works of the freedman having been chosen, is repelled from bonorum possessio contra tabulas; thus a woman, under the edict which concerns the one or the other, when she has explained her option, lest by repentance she be able to pass over to the other, will even be compelled to provide surety by way of precaution, unless she is aided by the help of age.

CTh.4.4.7.1 [=brev.4.4.7.1]

Illud quoque pari ratione servandum est, ut testator, qui decreverit facere testamentum, si id implere nequiverit, intestatus videatur esse defunctus, nec traducere liceat ad fideicommissi interpretationem, velut ex codicillis ultimam voluntatem, nisi si id ille complexus sit, ut vim etiam codicillorum scriptura debeat obtinere; illo iure electionis videlicet perdurante, ut, qui ex testamento agere voluerit, ad fideicommissum migrare non possit.

That too must be observed by like reasoning, that a testator who has resolved to make a testament, if he has been unable to fulfill it, is to be regarded as having died intestate, nor may it be transferred to a fideicommissary interpretation, as though deriving the last will from codicils, unless he has included this, that the writing ought also to obtain the force of codicils; with that right of election, namely, enduring, so that he who wishes to proceed from the testament may not migrate to the fideicommiss.

CTh.4.4.7.2 [=brev.4.4.7.2]

Si quis vero ex parentibus utriusque sexus ac liberis usque ad gradum quartum agnationis vinculis alligatus vel cognationis nexu constrictus ad tertium usque scriptus heres fuerit vel nuncupatus, in eo videlicet testamento, quod testator vicem quoque codicillorum voluit obtinere, licebit ei, si de hereditate ex testamento secundum mortui voluntatem agens fuerit forsitan superatus, vel certe ipse sponte voluerit, ad fideicommissi subsidium convolare. non enim par eademque ratio videtur, amittere debita et lucra non capere. [in omni autem genere testamenti, sive id praetorio iure sive civili consistat, seu codicilli conscribantur, sive non scripta voluntas ultima praetendatur, id volumus observari, ut eodem die, quo coeptum quid eorum fuerit, ad perfectum sui plenitudine sortiatur, nihilque eius in diem alterum differatur; quod quidem nullam habeat firmitatem, nisi aut septem aut quinque vel rogati aut qui fortuitu venerint, possint iure testimonium perhibere, videlicet ut post hanc sanctionem divinis et liquescentibus apicibus, qui trium testium numero sint contenti.] dat.

If, indeed, anyone from among parents of either sex and descendants, up to the fourth degree, bound by the bonds of agnation or constrained by the nexus of cognation up to the third, shall have been written or nuncupated heir, in that testament, namely, which the testator wished also to obtain the place of codicils, it shall be permitted to him, if, acting concerning the inheritance from the testament according to the will of the deceased, he should perhaps be overcome, or certainly if he himself should wish of his own accord, to fly for aid to the fideicommissum. For the same and equal reason does not seem right: to lose debts and not to take gains. [But in every kind of testament, whether it consist by praetorian law or by civil law, whether codicils be drawn up, or an unwritten last will be put forward, this we will to be observed: that on the same day on which any of these shall have been begun, it should reach to perfection in the fullness of itself, and that nothing of it be deferred to another day; which indeed shall have no firmness, unless either 7 or 5—either those who have been asked or those who have come by chance—are able by law to bear witness, namely that after this sanction, by divine and clarifying headings (apices), which are content with the number of 3 witnesses.] given.

x. kal. mart. constantinopoli, victore v. c. cos.

on the 10th day before the Kalends of March, at Constantinople, with Victor, a most distinguished man, as consul.

interpretatio. si quis per scripturam condiderit testamentum et postmodum sine scriptura, hoc est per nuncupationem suam iterandam crediderit voluntatem, vel si codicillis, quod est fideicommissum, potestatem heredi suo commiserit, ut, ex qua voluerit, testatoris ordinatione succedat: tunc in primordio adeundae hereditatis suam publicare non desinat voluntatem, utrum ex testamento, an per nuncupationem, an per fideicommissum hereditatem sibi eligat vindicandam. quod si prima electio eius fuerit superata, ad alteram ei transire non liceat: quia unius petitione concessa, de reliquis se noverit excludendum, quia una petitio alias aperte et evidenter excludit. extrema pars legis istius ideo non habetur scripta vel exposita, quia novella lege calcatur

interpretation. if anyone shall have established a testament by writing and afterward without writing, that is, by his nuncupation to be reiterated,
shall have believed his will, or if by codicils, which is a fideicommissum, he has entrusted to his heir the power that, from whichever he will, he may succeed by the testator’s
ordination: then at the outset of approaching the inheritance let him not cease to publish his intent, whether from the testament, or through
nuncupation, or through fideicommissum he chooses to claim the inheritance for himself. but if his first election shall have been overcome, it is not permitted for him
to pass to the other: because, one petition having been granted, he should know himself to be excluded from the rest, since one petition plainly and evidently excludes the others.
the last part of this law is therefore not held written or set forth, because it is trampled by a novella law

CTh.4.5.0. De litigiosis.

CTh.4.5.0. On litigious matters.

CTh.4.5.1pr. [=brev.4.5.1pr.]

Imp. constantinus a. ad provinciales. post alia: lite pendente illud, quod in controversiam devocatur, in coniunctam personam vel extraneam donationibus vel emptionibus* vel quibuslibet aliis contractibus minime transferri oportet, tanquam nihil factum sit lite nihilominus peragenda.

Emperor Constantine Augustus to the provincials. After other matters: while the suit is pending, that which is called into controversy ought by no means to be transferred to a connected person or
to a stranger by donations or purchases* or by whatever other contracts, as though nothing had been done, the suit
nonetheless to be prosecuted.

CTh.4.5.1.1 [=brev.4.5.1.1]

Theodosian Code 4.5.1.1 [= breviary 4.5.1.1]

Quod si tutelae causa vertitur, post examen iudicis in supplementum pronuntiationis dentur arbitri, qui non iam arbitri, sed exsecutores putandi sunt etc. dat. kal.

But if the case turns on guardianship, after the judge’s examination, arbitrators should be assigned as a supplement to the pronouncement, who are to be considered no longer arbitrators, but executors
are to be considered, etc. given on the Kalends.

aug. basso et ablavio coss.

August, in the consulship of Bassus and Ablavius.

interpretatio. res, quae proposita actione repetitur, transferri a possidente ad alterum nullis contractibus potest; neque inde aliqua fieri scriptura permittitur, nisi prius lis, de qua agitur, fuerit iudicio definita

interpretation. a thing which is demanded back by a proposed action cannot be transferred from the possessor to another by any contracts; nor is any writing to be made thereupon permitted, unless first the lawsuit, about which the matter is being pursued, has been determined by judgment

CTh.4.6.0. De naturalibus filiis et matribus eorum

CTh.4.6.0. On natural sons and their mothers

CTh.4.6.2

...........Ri fecit vel si ipsorum nomine comparavit, totum legitima suboles recipiat. quod si non sint filii legitimi nec frater consanguineus aut soror aut pater, totum fisci viribus vindicetur. itaque liciniani etiam filio, qui per rescriptum sanctissimum dignitatis culmen ascendit, omnis substantia auferatur et secundum hanc legem fisco adiudicetur, ipso verberato compedibus vinciendo, ad suae originis primordia redigendo.

...........he made it for himself or if he purchased in their name, let the entire share be received by the legitimate offspring. But if there are no legitimate sons nor a consanguine brother
or sister or father, let the whole be vindicated to the powers of the fisc. And so even for the son of Licinianus, who by a most sacred rescript ascended the summit of dignity,
let all his substance be taken away and, according to this law, be adjudged to the fisc, he himself being flogged, bound with fetters,
and reduced to the beginnings of his own origin.

lect. iii k. mai. carthagine nepotiano et facundo conss.

read 3 days before the kalends of may at carthage, nepotianus and facundus being consuls.

(336 apr. 29).

CTh.4.6.3

Idem a. ad gregorium. senatores seu perfectissimos, vel quos in civitatibus duumviralitas vel quinquennalitas vel flamonii vel sacerdotii provinciae ornamenta condecorant, placet maculam subire infamiae et peregrinos a romanis legibus fieri, si ex ancilla vel ancillae filia vel liberta vel libertae filia, sive romana facta seu latina, vel scaenica vel scaenicae filia, vel ex tabernaria vel ex tabernari filia vel humili vel abiecta vel lenonis vel harenarii filia vel quae mercimoniis publicis praefuit, susceptos filios in numero legitimorum habere voluerint aut proprio iudicio aut nostri praerogativa rescripti, ita ut, quidquid talibus liberis pater donaverit, sive illos legitimos seu naturales dixerit, totum retractum legitimae suboli reddatur aut fratri aut sorori aut patri aut matri. sed et uxori tali quodcumque datum quolibet genere fuerit vel emptione collatum, etiam hoc retractum reddi praecipimus: ipsas etiam, quarum venenis inficiuntur animi perditorum, si quid quaeritur vel commendatum dicitur, quod his reddendum est, quibus iussimus, aut fisco nostro, tormentis subici iubemus.

The same emperor to Gregorius. Senators or Perfectissimi, or those whom in the cities the duumviralty or quinquennalty or the flaminate or the priesthood of the province’s ornaments adorn, it pleases that they incur the stain of infamy and become peregrines from Roman laws, if from a handmaid or a handmaid’s daughter or a freedwoman or a freedwoman’s daughter, whether made Roman or Latin, or a stage-performer or a stage-performer’s daughter, or from a tavern-keeper or a tavern-keeper’s daughter, or a humble or abject woman, or the daughter of a pimp or an arena-man, or one who presided over public merchandises, they shall have wished to hold sons begotten as in the number of legitimates either by their own judgment or by the prerogative of our rescript, with the result that whatever the father shall have donated to such children, whether he called them legitimate or natural, the whole, withdrawn, shall be returned to the legitimate offspring or to a brother or sister or father or mother. But also to such a wife whatever has been given by any kind or conferred by purchase, we also command this, withdrawn, to be returned: and those very women, by whose poisons the minds of the profligate are infected, if anything is sought or is said to have been entrusted, which must be returned to those to whom we have ordered, or to our fisc, we order to be subjected to torments.

sive itaque per ipsum donatum est qui pater dicitur vel per alium sive per suppositam personam sive ab eo emptum vel ab alio sive ipsorum nomine comparatum, statim retractum reddatur quibus iussimus, aut, si non existunt, fisci viribus vindicetur. quod si existentes et in praesentia rerum constituti agere noluerint pacto vel iureiurando exclusi, totum sine mora fiscus invadat. quibus tacentibus et dissimulantibus a defensione fiscali duum mensuum tempora limitentur, intra quae si non retraxerint vel propter retrahendum rectorem provinciae interpellaverint, quidquid talibus filiis vel uxoribus liberalitas impura contulerit, fiscus noster invadat, donatas vel commendatas res sub poena quadrupli severa quaestione perquirens.

whether therefore it has been given through the very one who is called the father or through another, or through a person put in the place, or bought from him or from another, or acquired in their name, let it at once, being retracted, be returned to those to whom we have ordered, or, if they do not exist, let it be vindicated by the powers of the Fisc. but if, though existing and set in the presence of the things, they are unwilling to act, excluded by pact or by oath, let the Fisc seize the whole without delay. when they keep silent and dissemble, let periods of two months be limited for the fiscal defense, within which, if they shall not have retracted or shall have petitioned the rector of the province on account of retracting, whatever an impure liberality has bestowed upon such sons or wives, let our Fisc seize, seeking out the things given or commended in a severe inquisition under the penalty of quadruple.

licinniani autem filius, qui fugiens comprehensus est, compedibus vinctus ad gynaecei carthaginis ministerium deputetur. lecta xii k. aug. carthagine nepotiano et facundo conss.

but the son of Licinnianus, who was captured while fleeing, bound in shackles, shall be assigned to the service of the gynaeceum of Carthage.
read on July 21 at Carthage, in the consulship of Nepotianus and Facundus.

(336 iul. 21).

(336 July 21).

CTh.4.6.4 [=brev.4.6.1]

Theodosian Code 4.6.4 [= Breviary 4.6.1]

Imppp. valentin., valens et grat. aaa.

The Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, Augusti.

ad ampelium pf. u. placuit, manentibus ceteris, quae de naturalibus liberis constantinianis legibus cauta sunt, haec tantummodo temperare, ut is, qui heredem heredesve filios ex legitimo matrimonio vel nepotes, qui filiorum loco habendi sunt, patrem quoque matremve dimittit, si ex consortio cuiuslibet mulieris naturales susceperit, unam tantum bonorum suorum et hereditatis unciam naturalibus vel mulieri donandi aut relinquendi habeat facultatem. si quis vero nullo ex his, quos excipimus, superstite morietur, atque ex muliere, quam sibi adiunxerat, naturalem pluresve dimittet, usque ad tres tantum, si volet, uncias tam in mulierem quam in naturales, quo maluerit iure, transscribat. dat.

to Ampelius, the prefect of the city: it has pleased, with the rest remaining which by Constantinian laws are provided about natural children,
to temper only these things: that he who appoints as heir or heirs his sons from legitimate matrimony or his grandsons, who are to be held in the place of sons,
and also dismisses father or mother, if he has received natural children from cohabitation with any woman, shall have the faculty of giving or leaving only one ounce—that is, one-twelfth—of his goods and inheritance to the natural children or to the woman. if, however, someone shall die with none of those whom we except surviving,
and shall leave from the woman whom he had joined to himself one or more natural children, up to only three ounces, if he wills, he may assign, either to the woman or to the natural children, under whatever legal title he prefers. given.

xvii. kal. sept.

August 16.

contionaci, gratiano a. ii. et probo coss.

At Contionacum, in the consulship of Gratian Augustus for the 2nd time and Probus, consuls.

interpretatio. observandum de naturalibus filiis lex ista constituit, ut, si quis habens ex legitimo matrimonio filios vel filias, sive masculos nepotes ex filiis, vel patrem aut matrem ex quacumque* muliere, id est ingenua nata vel facta susceperit naturales, non amplius quam unciam unam de facultatibus suis noverit naturalibus conferendam. nam si defuerint ex omni parte personae superius nominatae, tunc naturalibus filiis vel mulieri, de qua nascuntur, tres uncias tantum, non amplius noverit, quisquis ille est, se posse conferre

interpretation. This law establishes to be observed concerning natural sons, that, if anyone having from legitimate marriage sons or daughters, or masculine grandsons from sons, or a father or a mother, from whatever* woman— that is, freeborn by birth or made so— shall have begotten naturals, he should know that no more than one ounce of his estate is to be conferred upon the naturals. For if on every side the persons named above are lacking, then let him know, whoever he is, that he can confer only three ounces, no more, upon the natural sons or upon the woman from whom they are born.

CTh.4.6.5

Impp. arcadius et honorius aa. petronio vicario hispaniarum. legibus constantini et genitoris nostri praeceptis edocti praecipimus, ut exclusis naturalibus filiis ad fiscum transferatur, quod ab ipsorum persona decidit, sin ci .... cipitur, et omne, quod legitimis competit, legis .... tia non negatur.

The emperors Arcadius and Honorius, Augusti, to Petronius, Vicarius of the Spains. Instructed by the laws of Constantine and by the precepts of our father, we command that
with the natural sons excluded, that which falls away from their person be transferred to the fisc; but if it is .... taken, and everything which pertains to the legitimate ones is not denied by the law’s ....tia.

dat. iiii k. mai. mediolano caesario et attico conss.

dated 28 April, at Milan, in the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus.

(397 apr. 28).

CTh.4.6.6

Codex Theodosianus 4.6.6

Idem aa. et theodosius a. anthemio praefecto praetorio. damus patrum arbitrio, si tamen legitima prole careant nec filios vel nepotes ex filio matremve habeant, naturales filios, quos ex quolibet susceperint contubernio, eorumve matrem, tres usque bonorum suorum uncias largitate prosequi seu ultima voluntate: matre vero vel ceteris personis, quae ex iustis? sunt, hoc est legitimis filiis vel nepotibus ex filio uno pluribusve existentibus, pater bonorum suorum unam tantum unciam naturalibus filiis eorumque genetrici largiendi vel relinquendi habeat potestatem.

The same Augusti and Theodosius Augustus to Anthemius, Praetorian Prefect. We grant to the judgment of fathers, if indeed they lack legitimate offspring and have neither sons nor grandsons through a son nor a mother, to favor with largess their natural sons—whom they have begotten from whatever cohabitation—and the mother of them, up to three twelfths of their goods, by bounty or by last will: but if a mother or the other persons who are from lawful marriage exist, that is, legitimate sons or grandsons through a son, one or more, the father shall have the power to bestow or to leave to his natural sons and to their genitrix only one single twelfth of his goods.

dat. id. nov. constantinopoli stilichone ii et anthemio conss.

Given on the Ides of November at Constantinople, when Stilicho for the 2nd time and Anthemius were consuls.

(405 nov. 13).

(November 13, 405).

CTh.4.6.7

Impp. theodosius et valentinianus aa. ad bassum praefectum praetorio. naturalium his nomen sancimus imponi, quos sine honesta celebratione matrimonii procreatos legitima coniunctio fuderit in lucem; servos autem ex ancillae utero ipso iure generari patet, quamvis per vim naturae ne illis quidem possit naturalium nomen auferri.

The Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian, Augusti, to Bassus, Praetorian Prefect. We sanction that the name of “natural” be imposed upon those whom a legitimate conjunction has brought into the light, though procreated without the honorable celebration of marriage; but it is evident that slaves are generated by the law itself from the womb of a handmaid, although by the force of nature not even from them can the name of “natural” be taken away.

in hereditariis tamen cor........... naturales sane, si ex ancilla nati fuerint et non manumittuntur a domino, inter hereditaria mancipia computantur. quod si aut de ingenua fuerint naturales aut de liberta aut certe libertina, ultra sescunciam matri cum naturalibus filiis dari amplius non licebit, hac ratione, ut donatio nuptialis in hereditatis supputatione non veniat, sed de eo, quod supra donationem nuptialem fuerit, inde sescuncia deputata naturalibus iure debetur. quod si aliquid ultra aut per donationem aut per testamentum aut per suppositam quamcumque personam illis fuerit derelictum, ab herede legitimo legibus revocetur.

in hereditary cor........... however, natural children, if they shall have been born from a slave-girl and are not manumitted by their master, are counted among the hereditary slaves. But if the natural children shall have been from a freeborn woman, or from a freedwoman, or certainly a freedwoman, it will not be permitted that more than a sescuncia (one-eighth) be given to the mother together with the natural sons, on this reasoning: that the nuptial donation not come into the reckoning of the inheritance, but from that which shall be above the nuptial donation, from that a sescuncia, assigned, is by right owed to the natural children. But if anything beyond this, either by donation or by testament or through whatever person put forward, has been left to them, let it be recalled by the lawful heir by the laws.

(426....).

CTh.4.6.8 [=brev.4.6.2]

Impp. theodos. et valentin.

emperors theodosius and valentinian.

aa. hierio pf. p. post alia: naturales liberi eorumque matres nec parentum arbitrio in successionibus ceterisque modis, quibus rei mobilis vel immobilis dominium confirmatur, passim et sine legis distinctione congrua permittantur, nec tamen legis, quae nuper lata est, asperitate premantur, quum satis sit, eos secundum priorem constitutionem, aut exstantibus iustis liberis aut etiam non exstantibus, id tantum consequi, si patris deferatur arbitrio, quod per eam iusta moderatione decretum est; ceteris, quae de eorum matribus, libertis libertinisque per novam constitutionem decreta sunt, in sua manentibus firmitate. dat. x. kal.

the emperors to HIERIUS, Praetorian Prefect, after other things: let natural children and their mothers neither be allowed, at the discretion of the parents, in successions and in the other modes by which the dominion of movable or immovable property is confirmed, indiscriminately and without a fitting distinction of law; nor, however, let them be pressed by the severity of the law which was lately enacted, since it is sufficient that they, according to the prior constitution—whether legitimate children exist or even do not exist—obtain only that which, if it is conferred by the father’s decision, was decreed by it with just moderation; the remaining provisions, which by the new constitution were decreed concerning their mothers, freedmen, and freedwomen, remain in their own firmness. Given on the 10th day before the Kalends.

mart. constantinopoli, tauro et felice coss.

March, at Constantinople,
in the consulship of Taurus and Felix.

interpretatio. haec lex interpretatione non indiget, quia ad hoc solum intromissa est, quia posterior omnibus est et priorem, quae a posteriore damnata fuerat, confirmavit

interpretation. this law does not need interpretation, because it was introduced for this sole purpose: because it is posterior to all, and it confirmed the prior one, which had been condemned by a later one.

CTh.4.7.0. De manumissionibus in ecclesia.

CTh.4.7.0. On manumissions in the church.

CTh.4.7.1pr. [=brev.4.7.1pr.]

Imp. constantinus a. osio episcopo. qui religiosa mente in ecclesiae gremio servulis suis meritam concesserint libertatem, eandem eodem iure donasse videantur, quo civitas romana solennibus decursis dari consuevit.

Emperor Constantine Augustus, to the bishop Hosius. Those who, with a religious mind, in the bosom of the church have granted to their little slaves the deserved liberty, let them be seen to have given the same by the same
right, by which Roman citizenship is accustomed to be granted, the solemnities having been performed.

sed hoc dumtaxat* iis, qui sub adspectu antistitum dederint, placuit relaxari.

but only this* has been decided to be relaxed for those who have given it under the sight of the prelates, it has pleased.

CTh.4.7.1.1 [=brev.4.7.1.1]

Clericis autem amplius concedimus, ut, quum suis famulis tribuunt libertatem, non solum in conspectu ecclesiae ac religiosi populi plenum fructum libertatis concessisse dicantur, verum etiam quum postremo iudicio libertates dederint, seu quibuscumque* verbis dari praeceperint ita ut ex die publicatae voluntatis, sine aliquo iuris teste vel interprete, competat directa libertas. dat. xiv.

Moreover we grant further to clerics, that, when they bestow liberty upon their own servants, they are said to have granted the full fruit of liberty not only in the sight of the church and of the religious people, but also when they shall have given liberties by their final judgment, or shall have commanded them to be given by whatever* words, so that from the day of the published will, without any legal witness or interpreter, direct liberty accrues. given 14.

kal. mai. crispo ii. et constantino ii. coss.

on the kalends of may, under crispus 2.
and constantine 2, consuls.

interpretatio. qui manumittendi in sacrosancta ecclesia habuerit voluntatem, tantum est, ut sub praesentia sacerdotum servos suos velit absolvere, noverit eos, suscepta libertate cives esse romanos: nam si clerici suis mancipiis dare voluerint libertatem, etiamsi extra conspectum fecerint sacerdotum vel sine scriptura verbis fuerint absoluti, manebit, sicut civibus romanis, integra et plena libertas

interpretation. whoever shall have had the will of manumitting in the sacrosanct church, it is enough that, in the presence of the priests, he should wish to free his slaves; let him know that they, liberty having been received, are Roman citizens: for if clerics shall have wished to give liberty to their own slaves, even if outside the sight of the priests they shall have done it, or if they shall have been absolved by words without writing, there shall remain, just as for Roman citizens, entire and full liberty

CTh.4.8.0. De liberali causa

CTh.4.8.0. On a freedom suit

CTh.4.8.4

Imp. constantinus a. ad maximum praefectum urbi. ................ ....Uxisset, eorum omnium iudicio fieret copia.

The emperor Constantine Augustus to Maximus, prefect of the city. ................ ....had married, permission should be given by the judgment of them all.

quod quidam ita interpretati sunt, ut contractis in litem omnibus et adsertionibus iam ordinatis et profligatis exactisque paene iudiciis, si cui earum personarum, quae in quaestione sunt, partus accidisset, quasi accessione absentiae necessariae spectataeque personae novari tempora iuris esse adfirment. sed cum aliud sit abesse, aliud necdum natum esse, placuit eos qui nascuntur matrum condicionibus et iure uti, quarum mox visceribus exponuntur, neque ideo, quod natus quidam est, tempora iudicii renovari. ante litem vero nati suo omnes nomine in quaestionem vocentur, quoniam hos solos, qui in lite nati erunt, omnem fortunam matrum complecti oportet et aut iustis tradi dominis aut libertate frui cum lucis auctoribus, cum eorum nulla propria veriorve possit esse defensio quam matrum.

which some have interpreted thus: that, after all had been drawn into the lawsuit and the assertions already ordered and pushed forward, and the judgments almost completed, if a birth befell any of those persons who are in question, they affirm that, as by an accession of the necessary absence of the person under consideration, the legal time-limits are to be renewed. But since it is one thing to be absent, another not yet to have been born, it has pleased that those who are born should enjoy the conditions and the right of the mothers from whose wombs they are soon brought forth, and that not on that account—because someone has been born—are the times of the trial to be renewed. Those, however, born before the lawsuit are to be called into the proceeding all in their own name, since these alone, who will have been born during the litigation, ought to embrace the entire fortune/condition of their mothers, and either be handed over to the rightful owners or enjoy liberty with the givers of their light, since no defense more proper or truer can be theirs than that of their mothers.

dat. prid. id. iun.

dated the day before the Ides of June (June 12).

sermio probiano et iuliano conss. (322 iun. 12).

in the consulship of sermio probianus and
julianus. (June 12, 322).

CTh.4.8.5pr. [=brev.4.8.1pr.]

Imp. constantinus a. ad maximum pf. u. si quis libertate utentes eiusque compotes inopinatos in discrimen ingenuitatis adducat, si eos forte assertio defecerit, circumductio praebeatur, assertorem quaeri titulo per literas indicante; ne causa per silentium ignoretur vel absurde etiam proclametur: ut, qui comperissent, vellent asserere, vel cunctantes etiam cogerentur; neu, si assertor defuerit, vincti, multis eos scientibus liberos, a dominis ducantur.

The Emperor Constantine Augustus to Maximus, Prefect of the City. If anyone should bring those who are enjoying liberty and in possession of it, unawares, into peril of freeborn status, if by chance an assertion should fail them, let circumduction be afforded, that an assertor be sought, with a title indicating by letters; lest the cause be ignored through silence or even absurdly proclaimed: so that those who had discovered it might be willing to assert, or even the hesitant be compelled; and lest, if an assertor should be lacking, they, with many knowing them to be free, in chains, be led away by masters.

CTh.4.8.5.1 [=brev.4.8.1.1]

Ideoque sancimus: si quis assertoris inops atque ignotus, circumlustratis provinciae populis, desertus tradatur ei, qui servum dixerit, non infracta, sed dilata libertate, assertore invento vires recolligat, et suis renovatis defensionibus resistat in iudicio, possessoris iure privilegiisque subnixus, quamquam de domo illius processerit. neque enim illa possessio est in tempus accepti, sed exspectatio assertoris in tempore non reperti; ita ut, si instaurata lite restitutisque in sua iura partibus, pro libertate fuerit lata sententia, iniuriae impudentiaeque causa adversarius pari numero servorum mulctetur, quotquot erunt, qui in servitutem petiti sunt: iis vero non condemnatur, qui in ipsa fuerint lite progeniti.

And therefore we sanction: if anyone, destitute of an asserter and unknown, with the peoples of the province having been canvassed, is abandoned and delivered to him who has called him a slave, not with liberty broken, but deferred, let him, when an asserter is found, recover his strength, and, his own defenses renewed, let him stand his ground in court, supported by the right and privileges of a possessor, although he has gone forth from that man’s house. For that is not possession for the time of having been received, but an expectation of an asserter not found in time; such that, if, the suit being reinstated and the parties restored into their own rights, a sentence shall have been given for liberty, for the cause of injury and impudence the adversary shall be mulcted by an equal number of slaves, as many as there shall be who have been sought into servitude; but he is not condemned for those who may have been begotten in the suit itself.

CTh.4.8.5.2 [=brev.4.8.1.2]

Quod si quis ante assertorem repertum vel ante sententiam fuerit mortuus, heredibus causam status probantibus mulctaticius servus tradetur: et heredes eius, qui libertatem temerabat, si implacabilem animum indicant, eadem maneat mancipiorum lex atque condicio*; si liberos sinent, quos clausos repererint, occidunt cum personis delicta.

But if anyone shall have died before an assertor is found or before sentence, a slave by way of mulct shall be handed over to the heirs, upon their proving the cause of status: and the heirs of him who was violating liberty, if they indicate an implacable spirit, let the same law and condition of slaves remain*; if they allow free persons, whom they have found confined, to go free, the delicts perish with the persons.

CTh.4.8.5.3 [=brev.4.8.1.3]

Minorum defensores eadem manebit mancipiorum mulcta: ac iudicio his, quos defenderant, reposcentibus, rei male gestae dabitur aestimatio.

The defenders of minors shall remain under the same mulct concerning slaves: and, in court, when those whom they had defended are demanding, an estimation for a matter badly managed shall be granted.

CTh.4.8.5.4 [=brev.4.8.1.4]

Quum id proprio periculo fecerit assertor, ut rem salvam fore promittit, ita satis accipiat de mulctae redhibitione.

When the assertor has done this at his own peril, just as he promises that the thing will be safe, so let him take surety for the redhibition (return) of the mulct.

CTh.4.8.5.5 [=brev.4.8.1.5]

Libertatem victis hostibus victorum dominatio abstulit; leges vero iniuriosos poena afficiunt et fama spoliant, dictumque in iurgio in adversarium immodestius iactatum petulantiusque fusum poenam subire cogitur: atque non erit impunita labefactatio atque oppugnatio libertatis, quae in convictis quoque punitur. iniustum est autem, alienum ad servum recepisse, et alterius servi abductione condemnatur. dat.

The dominion of the victors has taken away freedom from defeated enemies; but the laws afflict the injurious with punishment and despoil them of reputation, and a word in a quarrel hurled against an adversary too immodestly and poured forth too petulantly is compelled to undergo punishment: and the labefaction and assault upon liberty will not be unpunished, which is punished even in the convicted. Moreover, it is unjust to have received another as a slave, and one is condemned for the abduction of another’s slave. Given.

xiii. kal. aug.

13th day before the kalends of august.

sirmio, probiano et iuliano coss.

at Sirmium, in the consulship of Probianus and Julian.

interpretatio. si aliquis in libertate positum ad servitium conetur addicere, iubet pulsatum ex ordinatione iudicis per populos et per publicum duci, ut defensorem sui status inveniat et inventum assertorem per chartam petat a iudice, ne silentio ingenuitas opprimatur. quod si aut ipse sibi adesse aut assertorem non potuerit invenire, tradatur domino repetenti ad servitium, non ad poenale supplicium: ita ut non per hanc traditionem ex integro spem libertatis amittat, nisi quum habuerit locum, invento assertore libertatis suae statum asserat legibus audiendus.

interpretation. If someone attempts to adjudge to servitude one placed in liberty, it orders that the person challenged be led, by the ordinance of the judge, through the peoples and through the public, so that he may find a defender of his status, and, having found an assertor, he may request by a charter from the judge, lest ingenuousness be oppressed by silence. But if either he cannot be present for himself or cannot find an assertor, let him be handed over to the master reclaiming him, to servitude, not to penal punishment: in such a way that he not by this handing‑over entirely lose the hope of liberty, but when he shall have the opportunity, having found an assertor, let him assert the status of his liberty, to be heard according to the laws.

quod si tali ordine reparata lite, qui pulsantur, ingenuos se esse docuerint, tunc ille, a quo ingenuitas iniuste fuerat appetita, tot mancipia his, quos ad servitutem vocabat, eius aetatis et sexus dare cogatur, illis in condemnatione non annumerandis his, qui, dum causa protrahitur, in lite nati esse probantur. quod si ex his, qui ad servitutem vocantur, dum per assertorem requirendum aut alia occasione causa protrahitur, aliqui moriantur, et heredes eorum statum ingenuitatis obtinuerint, pro illius persona, quae in lite mortua est, heredibus suis eius compensatio, sicut et pro vivis, a pulsante reddenda est. si vero ille moriatur, qui liberos conabatur addicere, et filios aut heredes dimittat, si persequi voluerint causam, quam pater aut auctor inchoaverat, et victi fuerint, ad supra scriptam satisfactionem tenendi sunt, ut alia tot mancipia male pulsatis satisfaciant.

But if, with the suit thus set right, those who are assailed shall have shown themselves to be freeborn, then he by whom their freeborn status had been unjustly targeted shall be compelled to give so many mancipia, of the same age and sex, to those whom he was calling to servitude, with those not to be counted in the condemnation who are proved to have been born in the suit while the case was being prolonged. And if, from among those who are called to servitude, while the case is prolonged for the purpose of seeking an assertor or on some other occasion, some should die, and their heirs should obtain the status of ingenuitas, for the person who died in the suit, compensation for him must be rendered by the assailant to his heirs, just as for the living. But if he who was trying to adjudge freeborn persons is the one to die, and leaves sons or heirs, if they should wish to pursue the cause which the father or author had begun, and should be defeated, they are to be held to the above-written satisfaction, so that other so many mancipia may satisfy those wrongfully assailed.

si vero agere noluerint, nec persequi eos tentaverint, sed etiam in custodiam ab auctore redactos absolverint, erunt a mulctae condemnatione securi, quia non in auctoris sui vitio perstiterunt. quod si forte minores sint, et tutor eorum vel curator causas eorum adversus ingenuitatem prosequi velit, et fuerit superatus, ipse de propria facultate ad satisfactionem tenendus est. si vero post secundam reparationem assertor inventus periculo suo addicti causam crediderit replicandam, ut, si vincatur, peculium aut servitia susceptorum vel ipsos reddere debeat: similiter et ille, qui pulsat, dato fideiussore promittat se praedictum numerum vel meritum mancipiorum, vel quod ab his in peculio reposcit, satisfacere, quum fuerit superatus

but if indeed they should be unwilling to act, nor have attempted to pursue them, but even have released those who had been reduced into custody by their author, they shall be secure from a condemnation to a mulct (fine), because they did not persist in the fault of their author. But if perchance they are minors, and their tutor or curator should wish to prosecute their causes against freeborn status, and be overcome, he himself is to be held to satisfaction out of his own resources. But if, after the second reopening, an assertor having been found should deem the case of the one adjudged to servitude to be replicated at his own peril, so that, if he is defeated, he must restore the peculium or the services of those received, or the persons themselves: likewise also he who assails, upon a surety being given, shall promise that he will satisfy either the aforesaid number or the worth of slaves, or what he demands from them in the peculium, when he shall have been overcome

CTh.4.8.6pr. [=brev.4.8.2pr.]

Theodosian Code4.8.6pref. [=breviary4.8.2pref.]

Idem a. ad maximum pf. u. libertati a maioribus tantum impensum est, ut patribus, quibus ius vitae in liberos necisque potestas permissa est, eripere libertatem non liceret.

The same Augustus to Maximus, the prefect of the city: so much was expended upon liberty by the ancestors, that it was not permitted to fathers, to whom the right of life over their children and the power of death was granted, to snatch away liberty.

CTh.4.8.6.1 [=brev.4.8.2.1]

Si quisquam minor venumdatus actum maior administravit, quoniam minoris emptio* scientiam non obligat, eum ad libertatem venientem emptionis* actusque a maiore administrati praescriptio non tenebit:

If any minor, having been sold, has had a major administer the transaction, since the purchase of a minor does not bind to knowledge, him coming to freedom, the prescription of the purchase and of the act administered by the major will not bind him:

CTh.4.8.6.2 [=brev.4.8.2.2]

Nec vero ille, qui apud quempiam pro servo educatur, ac maior effectus vendenti veluti domino acquievit actuque administrato iam paene extremam relegit libertatem, (quoniam neque maior effectus originem suam noverat, neque eam, quam ignoraverat, venditionem patiens deseruisse iudicandus est) minori similis, eadem emptionis* atque actus administrati praescriptione non alligabitur, sed utrique dabitur assertio.

Nor indeed shall he, who is brought up by someone as a slave, and, once he has become of age, has acquiesced to the seller as if to a master and, an act having been administered, has now almost
banished his ultimate freedom, (since neither, having become of age, did he know his origin, nor is he to be judged, by enduring a sale which he had been unaware of, to have deserted it) be, like the minor, bound by the same prescription of the purchase* and of the administered act, but to both there will be given
assertion.

CTh.4.8.6.3 [=brev.4.8.2.3]

Paria etiam in libertinis erunt, qui quaestu quodam in eandem rursus servitutem relabuntur. sed eorum hac exceptione causa distinguenda est, ut, qui impuberes intra annum quartum decimum manumissi ac deinceps in servitio retenti ignorata libertate non utantur, maioresque venumdati actum gerant, ab assertione non arceantur: quum illi aetati tributae libertatis ignoratio aut oblivio concessa est. qui vero memoria firma venditioni post factae non nescius innectitur, huius legis beneficio carebit.

Like things also will be in the case of freedmen, who by a certain gainful pursuit slip back again into the same servitude. but their case is to be distinguished with this exception, that those who, being under puberty, were manumitted within the fourteenth year and thereafter kept in service, not making use of their liberty because it was unknown to them, and those who, having been sold when of full age, perform the act, are not to be barred from assertion: since to that age the ignorance or forgetfulness of the liberty bestowed has been allowed. but he who, with firm memory, is fastened to a sale made afterward, not unaware of it, will lack the benefit of this law.

CTh.4.8.6.4 [=brev.4.8.2.4]

Et quoniam vicissim etiam ipsis, qui his rem commiserunt, medendum est, si quisquam omnium, qui supra comprehensi sunt, in libertatem proclamaverit, id, quod apud se esse eius, qui se dominum dicit, profitebitur, quoniam de eo non dubitatur, reddi ac referri iudex protinus pronuntiabit.

And since in turn it must be remedied also for those themselves, who entrusted the matter to these, if anyone of all, who have been comprised above, shall have proclaimed for liberty, that, which he will acknowledge to be with himself of him who calls himself master, since there is no doubt about it, the judge will forthwith pronounce to be returned and restored.

CTh.4.8.6.5 [=brev.4.8.2.5]

Quod vero petitur, si id fuerit negotiatione controversum, per cautionem assertoris, ut alia lege comprehensum est, conservabitur, ac petitio differetur, ut, si fuerit approbata propria libertas, gestarum rerum ab eodem ratio atque omne, quod debebitur, reposcatur, ut servitute depulsus, qui pro domino quondam fuerat, habeat, quod ut servo domini iure largitus est, et quae ex earum rerum quaestu ac fructibus conciliata sunt, et quae de furtivis compendiis obscure capta ac parta sunt, quum liberum esse non oporteat, quod apud servum dominus peculii nomine collocaverat.

What is being sought, however, if that shall have been in controversy by way of negotiation, will be preserved through the caution of the asserter, as is comprehended by another law, and
the petition will be deferred, so that, if his own liberty shall have been approved, an account of the things done from that same person and everything that will be owed may be demanded back, so that
the one driven from servitude, who had formerly stood in the place of a master, may have that which he, as to a slave, by the right of a lord has bestowed, and the things that have been procured from the profit and
fruits of those things, and the things that have been obscurely seized and obtained from stealthy savings, since it ought not to be free, that which the master had placed with the slave under the name of
peculium.

CTh.4.8.6.6 [=brev.4.8.2.6]

Ea vero, quae testamento aut donatione quaesita sunt, aut quae ex earum rerum emolumentis empta* confectaque sunt, eidem ingenuo deputentur.

Those indeed, which have been acquired by testament or by donation, or which from the emoluments of those things have been purchased* and made, shall be assigned to the same freeborn man.

CTh.4.8.6.7 [=brev.4.8.2.7]

Quae tamen universa exacto libertatis iudicio, quo a supra dictis rebus discernuntur, in sequestri esse oportet, ut, his ab utroque deductis atque in medio iure locatis, ad eorum proprietatem uterque contendat. dat. xv. kal.

Which things, however, all together—once the judgment of liberty has been completed, by which they are distinguished from the aforesaid things—ought to be in sequestration, so that, these having been withdrawn by each party and placed in neutral custody under law, each may contend for their proprietorship. given on the 15th day before the Kalends.

mart. thessalonica, severo et rufino coss.

mar., thessalonica, severus and rufinus, consuls.

interpretatio. minor venditus, si post viginti et quinque aetatis suae annos iam maior effectus servierit aut in rebus emptoris* actor aut cuiuslibet rei ordinator fuerit constitutus, quum de ingenuitate sua proclamaverit, sine praeiudicio servitii, quod gesserit, audiatur, nec hoc ei praeiudicium generet, quod eius, a quo emptus* est, domum aut utilitates in annis maioribus positus visus est ordinasse. hoc etiam de libertis lex haec praecepit custodiri, ut, qui intra quattuordecim* annos fuerint manumissi et actum in maiore aetate positi gesserint patronorum, libertati eorum actus non praeiudicet servitutis, sed quum voluerint, suas aut de ingenuitate aut de libertinitate, intra tempora legibus constituta, proferant actiones.

interpretation. if a minor, sold, after twenty-five years of his age, now having become of full age, has served or has been constituted as an actor of the buyer’s* affairs or an ordinator of any matter, when he has proclaimed his freeborn status, let him be heard without prejudice of the service which he has borne; nor let this generate prejudice for him, that, having been placed in the years of majority, he was seen to have ordered the house or utilities/interests of the one by whom he was bought*. this same law also prescribed to be kept concerning freedmen, that those who were manumitted within fourteen* years and, placed in greater age, have carried on the act/business of their patrons, their act is not to prejudice their liberty with servitude; but when they wish, let them bring their actions, either about their freeborn status or about their freedman-status, within the times constituted by the laws.

sic etiam, si quis minor ingenuus a quolibet fuerit educatus et, liberum se esse nesciens, fuerit a nutritore distractus et actum vel utilitatem illius, a quo emptus* est, ut servus gesserit, priusquam triginta annorum praeiudicio teneatur, potestatem habeat reclamandi, et quasi minor is, priusquam tempora suppleantur, amissam recipiat libertatem. quicquid vero eis ille, a quo empti* sunt, vel tradidit vel donavit vel quaecumque* ex rei suae administratione profecit, totum retinendi ac revocandi habeat potestatem. si vero huiusmodi personis aliquid a quibuscumque* aliis aut testamento aut donatione collatum est, id solum sibi iam liberi vindicent: nam quod de re patroni libertus vel emptoris* ingenuus, dum serviret, profecit, libertati redditus libertus patrono, ingenuus emptori* restituat.

Likewise also, if any freeborn minor has been brought up by anyone and, not knowing himself to be free,
has been sold by his nourisher and has carried on the business or utility of him by whom he was bought*, as a slave, before he is held by the prejudice of thirty years,
let him have the power of reclaiming, and, as one who is a minor, before the times are completed, let him receive back the liberty lost. Whatever, moreover,
to them that one by whom they were bought* either delivered or donated, or whatever* he has profited from the administration of his property, let him have the power of retaining and calling back
the whole. But if to persons of this sort anything by whosoever* others either by testament or by donation has been bestowed, let them, now free, claim that alone for themselves:
for what from the property of the patron the freedman, or from the property of the buyer* the freeborn man, while he was serving, has profited, the freedman, restored to liberty, shall restore to the patron;
the freeborn man to the buyer*.

hi vero, qui in annis maioribus constituti sunt, scientes se esse ingenuos vel libertinos, si vendi acquieverint, in ea, ad quam scientes sua voluntate transeunt, servitute permaneant

But those who are constituted in years of majority, knowing themselves to be freeborn or freedmen, if they have acquiesced to be sold, let them remain in that servitude to which, knowingly and by their own will, they pass.

CTh.4.8.7 [=brev.4.8.3]

Idem a. ad bassum pf. p. legis promulgatio, quae per sedecim annos bona fide in libertate durantes contra eos, qui inquietant, praescriptione defendit, non opitulatur his, qui ex ancillis matribus et ingenuis patribus orti per id tempus in libertatis affectu cum parentibus perdurarint, quandoquidem, nullo praecedente iusto legitimae possessionis initio, usurpatio libertatis nuda iactetur, quum neque redemptio* a servitute neque vicarii traditio servuli vel peculii assignatio valeat demonstrari; qui tituli possint famulatus nexibus liberare eum, qui convenitur, si quo ex iis genere usus in libertate esset per annos sedecim demoratus. iure enim communi maternam condicionem* natum sequi necesse est, ita ut, etsi herilem lectulum ancilla ascenderit*, non liberorum domino, sed servorum partum suscipiat. dat.

The same emperor to Bassus, Praetorian Prefect. The promulgation of the law, which defends by prescription for those who have endured in liberty in good faith for sixteen years against those who disturb, does not assist those who, born from slave-girl mothers and freeborn fathers, have during that time persisted with their parents in an aspiration to liberty, since, with no just commencement of lawful possession preceding, a naked usurpation of liberty is vaunted, since neither redemption* from slavery nor the delivery of a vicarius-slave (servulus) nor the assignment of a peculium can be shown; which titles could free from the bonds of servitude the one who is convened, if by any kind among these he had availed himself and had remained in liberty for sixteen years. For by the common law it is necessary that the born follow the maternal condition*, so that, even if a slave-girl has ascended* the master’s bed, she conceives not children of the master as freeborn, but bears a brood of slaves. Given.

prid. kal. mart.

the day before the Kalends of March.

basso et ablavio coss.

in the consulship of Bassus and Ablavius.

interpretatio. lex aliquando fuerat promulgata, ut, si quis sedecim annos sine ulla molestia, nullo repetente vel pulsante, vixisset, et postea in servitium non veniret. sed hoc illis prodesse non poterit, quos de ingenuis patribus et colonis mulieribus vel ancillis constiterit procreatos, nisi forte patres eorum pro filiorum capite dominis, quorum ancillas in consortio habent, aut vicaria mancipia cum peculiis aut redemptionem* status eorum solverint.

interpretation. a law had once been promulgated, that, if anyone had lived sixteen years without any molestation, with no one reclaiming or prosecuting, and afterwards would not come into servitude. but this will not be able to profit those whom it has been established to have been procreated from freeborn fathers and colonus women or handmaids, unless perhaps their fathers, for the head of their sons, to the masters whose handmaids they have in consort, shall have paid either vicarian slaves (mancipia) with their peculia, or a redemption* of their status.

si vero patres hoc se persolvisse non doceant, non poterunt matrum condicionem* mutare, aut mancipia dominis deperire, etiamsi de propriis dominis nascantur, nisi per manumissionem servili condicione* carere non possunt. si quis in libertate positus ancillam sibi copulaverit in coniugium, si filii ex ipsis nati fuerint, origo matrem sequatur: simili modo, si liberta servum duxerit maritum, agnatio servum sequatur, quia ad inferiorem personam vadit origo

but if the fathers do not show that they have paid this, they will not be able to change the mothers’ condition*, nor can slaves be lost to their masters, even if they are born of their own masters; they cannot be without the servile condition* except through manumission. If someone placed in liberty has coupled a handmaid to himself in marriage, if children have been born from them, the origin follows the mother: in like manner, if a freedwoman has taken a slave as husband, let the agnation follow the slave, because origin goes to the inferior person

CTh.4.8.8

Theodosian Code 4.8.8

...........Si post adsertionem defensionemque ordinatam alius in iudicium acciri petiverit, adsertio quidem et defensio inter omnes ordinetur, ipse vero tot mancipia, quot petebat, fisco cogatur inferre. quod si adsertor defecerit, vel praedictam multam agnoscat vel, si per inopiam id implere non possit, in metallum detrudetur: eadem circa minorum defensores, cum liberalis causa agitur, forma servanda. et cetera.

...........If after the adsertion and the defense have been ordered another has sought to be summoned into court, let the adsertion and the defense be arranged among all, but let he himself be compelled to pay into the fisc as many slaves as he was seeking. But if the adsertor should fail, let him either acknowledge the aforesaid fine or, if through indigence he cannot fulfill it, he shall be thrust into the mines: the same form is to be observed concerning the defenders of minors, when a cause of liberty is being litigated. And the rest.

dat. vii k. novemb. constantinopoli pacatiano et hilariano conss.

given on the 7th day before the kalends of november at constantinople, in the consulship of pacatianus and hilarianus.

interpretatio. si post adsertionem defensionemque dispositam alius in iudicium qui se dominum dicit petierit exhiberi, inter omnes quidem ordinabitur adsertio, sed ipse ad certam poenam tenebitur. idem est in adsertore vel defensoribus minorum.

interpretation. if, after the assertion and the defense have been set in order, another person, who says that he is the master, shall have sought to have [him] produced into court, among all indeed the assertion will be arranged, but he himself will be held to a set penalty. the same holds for the asserter or for the defenders of minors.

(332 oct. 26)

(332 Oct. 26)

CTh.4.8.9 [=brev.4.8.4]

Theodosian Code 4.8.9 [= Breviary 4.8.4]

Imppp. theodos., arcad. et honor.

The Emperors Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius.

aaa. rufino pf. p. si cui super statu suo quaestio moveatur, qui diuturno tempore, hoc est per viginti annorum spatia in libertatis possessione duravit, vel quem asserant suffragia munerum et privilegia meritorum, quive iis praesentibus, qui dominos se esse contendunt, in hominum erit celebritate versatus, nulla ei dandi assertoris necessitas imponatur, sed liber assistat et statum suum ipse tueatur, calumniantem repellat, redarguat persequentem, ne fluctuet dubius, si de alieno necesse habebit pendere fastidio. de aliis vero, quos nec honor aliquis, nec superscriptione praedicti temporis privilegium militare defendit, antiqui iuris forma servetur.

the emperors to rufinus, praetorian prefect. if a question is raised concerning anyone’s status, who for a long time, that is, for the spaces of twenty
years, has continued in the possession of liberty, or whom the suffrages of offices and the privileges of merits are said to attest, or who, with those present who
contend that they are masters, has been engaged in the publicity of men, no necessity of providing an assertor shall be imposed upon him, but let him stand as free and
himself maintain his status, repel the calumniator, refute the pursuer, lest he waver in doubt if he must depend upon another’s caprice.
but as for others, whom neither any honor nor the military privilege by the superscription of the aforesaid time defends, let the form of the ancient law
be observed.

dat. iv. kal. oct.

Given on the 4th day before the Kalends of October (September 28).

constantinopoli, theodos. a. iii. et abundantio coss.

at constantinople, theodosius augustus 3 and abundantius, consuls.

interpretatio. qui viginti annos non occulte, sed publice in libertate duraverint et aliquid officii vel militiae, praesente et tacente petitore, gesserint, assertorem quaerendi eos necessitas non manebit, sed ipsi per se, si voluerint, adversus petitorem, quod libertati eorum competit, exsequentur. circa alios vero, qui nescientibus dominis latuerint, prioris legis ordo servabitur

interpretation. those who for twenty years have endured not secretly, but publicly in freedom, and have performed some office or military service, with the petitioner present and silent, the necessity of seeking an assertor for them will not remain, but they themselves, on their own, if they wish, against the petitioner, will prosecute what pertains to their freedom. as for others, however, who have lain hidden with their masters not knowing, the order of the prior law will be observed

CTh.4.9.0. De his, qui a non domino manumissi sunt.

CTh.4.9.0. On those who have been manumitted by a non-master.

CTh.4.9.1 [=brev.4.9.1]

Imp. constantinus a. ad bassum. si a non dominis libertas detur mancipio alieno, si quidem ab his iudicibus impetrabitur, quibus dandi ius est, sine ulla trepidatione poenae facilis dissolutio est.

Emperor Constantine Augustus to Bassus. If freedom is given by non-owners to another’s slave, if indeed it shall be obtained from those judges who have the right of granting
it, there is an easy exoneration, without any fear of penalty.

si vero iubentibus nobis quicquam lege actum esse doceatur, et non dominus, ut alienum mancipium manumitteretur, petiisse, tunc eodem, qui in conspectu nostro libertatem monstrabitur consecutus, ei protinus, ad cuius proprietatem pertinet, restituto, is, qui mancipium alienum fallendo principis conscientiam manumisit, mancipia duo cogatur domino eius dare, cuiusmodi sexus, aetatis atque artis constiterit esse manumissum, et alia tria fisco eademque ratione similia. quae mulcta non semper imponitur, sed potius conquiescit, si forte manumissus inferentem sibi quaestionem status obiecta legitima praescriptione potuerit excludere; quum sibi amissi mancipii damna debeat imputare, qui in perniciem suam gesta taciturnitate firmaverit. prop.

but if it be shown that anything was transacted by law at our command, and that it was not the owner who petitioned that an alien slave be manumitted, then, with that same person who will be shown to have attained liberty in our sight restored at once to him to whose proprietorship he pertains, the man who, by deceiving the prince’s consciousness, manumitted another’s mancipium shall be compelled to give to its owner two slaves of the same kind as to sex, age, and craft as the manumitted was ascertained to be, and three others to the fisc, similar by the same reckoning.
Which mulct is not always imposed, but rather rests, if perchance the manumitted person can, by interposing a legitimate praescription, exclude the one bringing against him a status-inquiry; since he ought to charge to himself the losses of the mancipium lost, who by his silence has confirmed the acts to his own ruin. posted.

id. iul. constantino a. v. et licinio caes. coss.

on the ides of july, in the consulship of constantine augustus for the 5th time, and of licinius caesar, consuls.

interpretatio. si aliquis mancipium manumittere praesumpserit* alienum et id sub praesentia principis vel in ecclesia fecerit, hac poena tenebitur, ut et manumissus a domino revocetur, et alia duo mancipia eiusdem aetatis aut sexus aut certe artificii, quod ille, qui est manumissus, scierit, dare cogatur. si vero ille, qui manumissus dicitur, repetentem dominum sub hac praescriptione superaverit, ut iam firmitatem status sui temporibus tueatur, tunc ille, qui manumisit, non est constringendus ad poenam, dum ille, qui repetit, praeiudicium domini sui incurrerit aut taciturnitate nutrierit

interpretation. if anyone shall have presumed* to manumit another’s slave, and has done this in the presence of the princeps or in church, he shall be held to this penalty: that both the manumitted person be called back by his lord, and he be compelled to give two other slaves of the same age or sex, or at any rate of the craft which he who has been manumitted knew. but if he who is said to have been manumitted shall have overcome the lord reclaiming under this prescription, so that he now upholds by lapse of time the firmness of his status, then he who manumitted is not to be constrained to the penalty, so long as he who seeks to reclaim has incurred a prejudice to his dominion or has nourished it by silence

CTh.4.10.0. De libertis et eorum liberis

CTh.4.10.0. On freedmen and their children

CTh.4.10.1 [=brev.4.10.1]

Imp. constantinus a. ad concilium byzacenorum. libertis ingratis in tantum iura adversa sunt, ut, si quadam iactantia vel contumacia cervices erexerint aut levis offensae contraxerint culpam, a patronis rursus sub imperia dicionemque* mittantur.

Emperor Constantine Augustus to the council of the Byzaceni. The laws are so adverse to ingrate freedmen that, if with a certain jactation or contumacy they should raise their necks, or should contract the guilt of a light offense, they are sent back by their patrons again under command and dominion*.

dat. vi. kal. aug.

dated on the 6th day before the kalends of august.

coloniae agrippinae, pacatiano et hilariano coss.

at colonia agrippina, in the consulship of pacatianus and hilarianus.

interpretatio. quaecumque* persona servilis a domino suo fuerit consecuta libertatem, si postea superbire coeperit aut patronum, id est manumissorem suum laeserit, amissa libertate, quam meruit, in servitium revocetur

interpretation. whatever* servile person has obtained liberty from his master, if afterwards he begins to grow proud or injures his patron, that is his manumitter, with the liberty lost, which he merited, let him be recalled into servitude

CTh.4.10.2pr.

Theodosian Code 4.10.2, preface.

Impp. honorius et theodosius aa. consulibus, praetoribus, tribunis plebis, senatui suo salutem dicunt. post alia: liberti non modo adversus patronos non audiantur, verum etiam eandem quam patronis ipsis reverentiam praestent heredibus patronorum, quibus ingrati actio sic ut ipsis manumissoribus deferetur, si illi datae sibi libertatis immemores nequitiam receperint servilis ingenii.

The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius, Augusti, send greeting to the consuls, praetors, tribunes of the plebs, and to their senate. After other matters: let freedmen not only not be heard against their patrons, but let them also show the same reverence to the heirs of the patrons as to the patrons themselves, to whom the action for ingratitude will be conferred just as to the manumittors themselves, if, unmindful of the liberty given to them, they shall have taken back the wickedness of a servile disposition.

(423 aug. 6).

CTh.4.10.2.1

Quod si delatores accusatoresve manumissorum heredumve esse praesumpserint, eodem quo servi supplicio tenebuntur, luituri poenas ante adhibitae delationis exordium. et cetera. dat.

But if delators or accusers of the manumitted or of the heirs shall have presumed to act, they will be held to the same punishment as slaves, destined to pay the penalties before the beginning of the delation that has been employed. and the rest. given.

viii id. aug. ravenna asclepiodoto et mariniano conss.

on August 6, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Asclepiodotus and Marinianus.

interpretatio. libertos non solum contra patronos, sed et contra patroni audiendos heredes non esse: ingratos etiam ab heredibus in servitutem revocari: delatores etiam contra patronorum heredes, antequam audiantur, puniendos. (423 aug. 6)

interpretation. freedmen are not to be heard not only against their patrons, but also against the patron’s heirs: the ungrateful also are to be recalled by the heirs into servitude: delators also, against the patrons’ heirs, are to be punished before they are heard. (423 Aug. 6)

CTh.4.10.3

Impp. theodosius et valentinianus aa. basso praefecto praetorio. post alia: libertinae condicionis homines numquam ad honores vel palatinam adspirare militiam permittimus.

Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian, Augusti, to Basso, Praetorian Prefect. After other matters: we never permit persons of freedman condition to aspire to honors or
to Palatine service.

sane hanc distinctionem volumus custodiri, ut ex manumissis nati ad locum usque proximum protectoris licitum nullatenus adire mereantur ita, ut patronis patronorumve heredibus reverentiae privilegia conserventur. nam si militantes etiam docebuntur ingrati, ad servitutis nexum procul dubio reducentur. ipsos vero, qui manumissi sunt, nulla ratione ad ullum quamvis humilis militiae locum sinimus admitti.

Surely we wish this distinction to be observed, that those born from the manumitted may by no means be allowed to attain to the position even up to the one next to a protector,
so that the privileges of reverence be conserved for patrons and the heirs of patrons. For if those serving in the military shall also be shown ungrateful, they will without doubt be led back to the bond of servitude. But those themselves who have been manumitted we allow on no account to be admitted to any place of the soldiery, however humble.

dat. iii. kal.

given on the 3rd day before the Kalends.

april. ravenna theodosio a. xii et valentiniano a. ii conss.

april. ravenna theodosius augustus 12 and valentinian augustus 2 consuls.

interpretatio. libertos ad nullos honores militiamque adspirare: eorum filios ingenuos usque ad protectoris locum posse conscendere: etiam militantes ingratos in servitutem revocari. (426 mart. 30)

interpretation. freedmen are to aspire neither to any honors nor to military service: their sons, freeborn, can ascend as far as the rank of protector: even those serving as soldiers, if ungrateful, are to be called back into servitude. (426 mar. 30)

CTh.4.11.0. De longi temporis praescriptione

CTh.4.11.0. On long-term prescription

CTh.4.11.1 [= 13,1 h.]

Idem a. ad. vettium rufinum praefectum urbi. ex donatione principum aut quocumque modo rem ad fiscum pertinentem usque ad nostra decennalia sine aliqua interpellatione possidentes, secundum ius enim haec intelligitur esse possessio, securi possideant. proposita x k. iun.

the same augustus to vettius rufinus, prefect of the city. from the donation of the princes or in whatever way possessing a thing pertaining to the fisc up to our
decennial without any interpellation, for according to law this is understood to be possession, let them possess securely. posted on the 10th day before the kalends of june.

romae sabino et rufino conss. (316 dec. [?] 23).

at rome, sabinus and rufinus consuls. (316 dec. [?] 23).

CTh.4.11.2 [= 13,2 h.]

Impp. constantius et constans aa. argyrio praesidi. annorum quadraginta praescriptio, quam vetustatem leges ac iura nuncupare voluerunt, admittenda non est, cum actio personalis intenditur.

Emperors Constantius and Constans, Augusti, to Argyrius, governor. The prescription of forty years, which the laws and the rights wished to designate as “antiquity,” is not to be admitted when a personal action is being brought.

quare in praesenti et in ceteris causis id potissimum servabis atque custodies, nisi iure veteri comprehensum sit actionem, quae movetur, propter vetustatem non debere moveri. sed quamvis actio pecuniae postulatae exceptione temporis non finiatur, iudex tamen debet inspicere, quae temporis intervalla nullis iustis causis exsistentibus fluxerint, et instrumenti vetustatem, ut diligentius his consideratis ex officio iudicantis, quid pronuntiari super huiusmodi actionibus oporteat, aestimetur. dat.

wherefore in the present and in the other causes you shall especially observe and keep this, unless it is comprehended by the old law that the action which is being moved ought not to be moved on account of antiquity. but although an action for money demanded is not ended by an exception of time, nevertheless the judge ought to inspect what intervals of time have flowed with no just causes existing, and the antiquity of the instrument, so that, these things more diligently considered by the office of the judge, it may be assessed what ought to be pronounced concerning actions of this kind. given.

x kal. iul. limenio et catullino conss.

June 22 (10 days before the Kalends of July), in the consulship of Limenius and Catullinus.

interpretatio. quamvis indebito longi tem.... (349 iun. 22)

interpretation. although by the undue length of ti.... (349 June 22)

CTh.4.12.0. Ad senatus consultum claudianum

CTh.4.12.0. Concerning the senatus-consultum claudianum

CTh.4.12.1pr. [= 11,1 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.12.1pr. [= 11,1 h.]

Imp. constantinus a. ad probum. si quae mulieres liberae vel a servis vel a quolibet alio vim perpessae contra voluntatem suam servilis condicionis hominibus iunctae sint, competenti legum severitate vindictam consequantur.

The Emperor Constantine Augustus to Probus. If any free women, having suffered violence either from slaves or from anyone else, have been joined against their will to men of servile condition, let them obtain vindication by the competent severity of the laws.

(314 apr. 1).

(April 1, 314).

CTh.4.12.1.1 [= 11,1 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.12.1.1 [= 11,1 h.]

Si qua autem mulier suae sit immemor honestatis, libertatem amittat atque eius filii servi sint domini, cuius se contubernio coniunxit. quam legem et de praeterito custodiri oportet. proposita kal.

But if any woman should be forgetful of her own honesty, let her lose her freedom, and let her sons be slaves of the master with whose contubernium she joined herself. Which law also ought to be observed for what is past. published on the Kalends.

april. volusiano et anniano conss.

april. volusianus and annianus, consuls.

interpretatio. per vim contra voluntatem servo iuncta alieno et vindictam consequitur. si vero sponte fit ancilla, et eius filii servi sunt.

interpretation. joined by violence against her will to another’s slave, she obtains vindication. but if she becomes a handmaid of her own accord, her sons are slaves as well.

(314 apr. 1)

(April 1, 314)

CTh.4.12.2 [= 11,2 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.12.2 [= 11,2 h.]

.............Dat. v kal. febr.

.............Given on the 5th day before the Kalends of February.

gallicano et basso conss.

with Gallicanus and Bassus as consuls.

interpretatio. septem testibus civibus romanis praesentibus tertio ex senatus consulto claudiano denuntiandum. (317 ian. 28)

interpretation. with seven witnesses, Roman citizens, present, it must be denounced for the third time according to the Claudian senatus consultum. (317 Jan. 28)

CTh.4.12.3 [= 11,3 et 4 h.]

CTh.4.12.3 [= 11,3 and 4 h.]

Idem a. ad populum. cum ius vetus ingenuas fiscalium servorum contubernio coniunctas ad decoctionem natalium cogat nulla vel ignorantiae venia tributa vel aetati, placet coniunctionum quidem talium vincula vitari, sin vero mulier ingenua vel ignara vel etiam volens cum servo fiscali convenerit, nullum eam ingenui status damnum sustinere, subolem vero, quae patre servo fiscali, matre nascetur ingenua, mediam tenere fortunam, ut servorum liberi et liberarum spurii latini sint, qui, licet servitutis necessitate solvantur, patroni tamen privilegio tenebuntur. quod ius et in fiscalibus servis et in patrimoniorum fundorum originariis et ad emphyteuticaria praedia et qui ad privatarum rerum nostrarum corpora pertinent servari volumus.

The same Augustus, to the People. since the old law compels freeborn women joined in contubernium with slaves of the fisc to the decoction of their natal status, with no indulgence granted either for ignorance or for age, it pleases that the bonds of such unions indeed be avoided; but if a freeborn woman, either unwitting or even willing, has come together with a fiscal slave, let her sustain no loss of freeborn status; but the offspring, which will be born of a father a fiscal slave and a mother freeborn, is to hold a middle fortune, so that the children of male slaves and of freeborn women be spurious Latins, who, although they are released from the necessity of servitude, will nonetheless be held by the privilege of a patron. We wish this law to be observed both with fiscal slaves and with the originarii of patrimonial estates and with respect to emphyteuticary estates and those who pertain to the corpora of our private goods.

nihil enim rebus publicis ex antiquo iure detrahimus nec ad consortium huius legis copulamus urbium quarumcumque servitia; volumus ut civitates integram teneant nec [imminutam] interdicti veteris potestatem. si vel error improvidus vel simplex ignorantia vel aetatis infirmae lapsus in has contubernii plagas depulerit, haec nostris sanctionibus sit excepta. dat.

for we detract nothing from the commonwealths from the ancient law, nor do we couple to the consortium of this law the servitudes of whatever cities; we will that the cities hold intact and not [diminished] the power of the old interdict.
if either incautious error or simple ignorance or the slip of tender age has driven into these snares of contubernium, let this be excepted by our sanctions. Given.

vi kal. sept. serdicae constantino a. vii et constantio conss.

on the 6th day before the Kalends of September, at Serdica, Constantine Augustus (7) and Constantius, consuls.

interpretatio. ingenua, quae se fiscali servo iunxerit, sive sciens sive ignara, ipsa manebit libera, filii vero eius et latini et spurii erunt, qui, quamvis liberi sint, iuri tamen obtingunt patronorum. idem est et si servo emphyteuticario se sociarit ingenua vel patrimoniali aut ex privata re principum excepto iure rei publicae, quod lex praesens voluit conservatum.

interpretation. A freeborn woman who has joined herself to a fiscal slave, whether knowing or unknowing, will herself remain free, but her sons will be both Latins and spurious, who, although they are free, nevertheless fall under the right of patrons. The same is the case also if a freeborn woman has associated herself with an emphyteuticary slave or a patrimonial slave or one from the private property of the princes, with the right of the Republic excepted, which the present law has willed to be conserved.

(320 [?] ian. 27 [31?])

(320 [?] Jan. 27 [31?])

CTh.4.12.4 [= 11,5 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.12.4 [= 11,5 h.]

Idem a. quaecumque mulierum post hanc legem servi contubernio se miscuerit, et non conventa per denuntiationes, sicut ius statuebat antiquum, statum libertatis amittat. dat. prid.

The same emperor: whatever woman, after this law, has mingled herself in contubernium with a slave, and without having been convened through denunciations, as the ancient law had established, shall lose the status of liberty. Given the day before.

non. oct. basso et ablabio conss.

on the Nones of October (October 7), in the consulship of Bassus and Ablabius.

(331 oct. 6).

CTh.4.12.5 [= 11,6 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.12.5 [= 11,6 h.]

Imp. iulianus a. secundo praefecto praetorio. senatusconsultum claudianum firmum esse censemus omnibus constitutionibus, quae contra id latae sunt, penitus infirmatis, ut libera mulier, sive procuratori sive actori privato sive alii cuilibet servili condicione polluto fuerit sociata, non aliter libertate amissa nexu condicionis deterrimae adstringatur, nisi trinis fuerit denuntiationibus ex iure pulsata.

Emperor Julian Augustus to Secundus, the Praetorian Prefect. We deem the Claudian senatus-consult to be in force, all constitutions which were enacted against it being utterly invalidated, so that a free woman, if she has been joined either to a procurator or to a private actor or to any other person defiled with servile condition,
shall not, with her liberty lost, be bound by the bond of the most wretched condition otherwise, unless she has been proceeded against in law by three denunciations.

quod quidem circa privatas personas convenit observari; nam eas mulieres, quae fiscalibus vel civitatis servis sociantur, ad huius sanctionis auctoritatem minime pertinere sancimus. dat. et proposita in foro traiani viii id. dec.

This indeed it is fitting to be observed with respect to private persons; for we decree that those women who are joined with slaves of the fisc or of the city in no way pertain to the authority of this sanction. Given and posted in the Forum of Trajan on the 8th day before the Ides of December.

mamertino et nevitta conss.

mamertinus and nevitta, consuls.

interpretatio. senatus consulti claudiani auctoritas confirmatur etiam circa eas, quae procuratoribus et actoribus privatorum iunguntur, exceptis his, quae servis fiscalibus vel civitatum sociantur. (362 dec. 6)

interpretation. the authority of the Senatus Consultum Claudianum is confirmed even with respect to those women who are joined to the procurators and actors (estate agents) of private persons, except for those who are associated with the slaves of the fisc or of the cities. (362 dec. 6)

CTh.4.12.6 [= 11,7 h.]

Imppp. valentinianus, valens et gratianus aaa. ad secundum praefectum praetorio.

the emperors valentinian, valens and gratian, augusti, to the second praetorian prefect.

si apud libidinosam mulierem plus valuit cupiditas quam libertas, ancilla facta est non bello, non praemio, sed conubio, ita ut eius fili iugo servitutis subiaceant. manifestum est enim ancillam esse voluisse eam, quam liberam esse paenituit. dat.

If, in the case of a libidinous woman, desire prevailed more than liberty,
she has been made a handmaid not by war, not by reward, but by connubium (marriage), such that her sons are subject to the yoke of servitude. For it is manifest
that she wished to be a handmaid, she who regretted being free. Given.

prid. non. april.

The day before the Nones of April.

triveris gratiano n. p. et dagalaifo conss.

at Trier, under the consuls Gratian, most noble youth, and Dagalaifus.

interpretatio. si mulier ex contubernio servi fiat ancilla, filii quoque eius servi erunt. (366 [?] apr.

interpretation. if a woman, from cohabitation (contubernium) with a slave, becomes a female slave, her sons also will be slaves. (366 [?] Apr.

CTh.4.12.7 [= 11,8 h.]

Impp. arcadius et honorius aa. ad anatolium praefectum praetorio illyrici. cuncti provinciales agnoscant, nisi trinis denuntiationibus liberae feminae servorum consortiis arceantur, nullo modo posse eas ad servitium detineri.

The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, Augusti, to Anatolius, Praetorian Prefect of Illyricum. Let all provincials recognize that, unless by triple denunciations free women are kept away from consortships of slaves, they can in no way be held to servitude.

dat. non. mart.

dated on the Nones of March.

constantinopoli honorio a. iiii et eutychiano conss.

at constantinople, under honorius, augustus, consul for the 4th time,
and eutychianus, consuls.

interpretatio. sine trina denuntiatione mulier servo iuncta non fit ancilla. (398 mart. 7)

interpretation. without a threefold denunciation, a woman joined to a slave does not become a handmaid. (398 March 7)

CTh.4.13.0. De vectigalibus et commissis

CTh.4.13.0. On taxes and confiscations

CTh.4.13.1 [=brev.4.11.1]

Imp. constantinus a. ad iunium rufum consularem aemiliae. penes illum vectigalia manere oportet, qui superior in licitatione exstiterit, ita ut non minus quam triennii fine locatio concludatur, nec ullo modo interrumpatur tempus exigendis vectigalibus praestitutum.

the emperor constantine augustus to junius rufus, consular of aemilia. the public revenues ought to remain in the hands of him who has proved superior in the bidding, such that the lease be concluded for not less than the completion of a three-year term, and in no way shall the time prescribed for the exacting of the revenues be interrupted.

quo peracto tempore, licitationum iura conductionumque recreari oportet, ac simili modo aliis collocari; capitali sententia subiugando, quem plus aliquid, quam statutum est, a provincialibus exegisse constiterit. dat. kal.

when that time has been completed, the rights of the licitations and of the leases ought to be renewed, and in similar manner be placed with others; subjecting to a capital sentence, whoever shall have been found to have exacted from the provincials anything more than has been established. Given on the Kalends.

iul. crispo ii. et constantino ii. coss.

july. crispus 2. and constantine 2. consuls.

interpretatio. vectigalia sunt, quae fisco vehiculorum subvectione praestantur, hoc est aut in litoreis locis navibus aut per diversa vehiculis merces deportant, cuius rei conductelam apud strenuas personas triennio esse praecipit, et continuo hanc exactionem aliis iterum permittendam, qui maiorem summam praestationis obtulerint. ex qua conductione aut exactione, si quis plus, quam praeceptum fuerit, exigere tentaverit, ita ut mercatorem vel provincialem sub hac exactione gravare coeperit, periculo capitis se noverit esse damnandum

interpretation. The vectigals are those which are rendered to the fisc by the subvection of vehicles, that is, either in littoral places by ships or through diverse places they carry merchandise by vehicles, the conductelage of which matter he prescribes to be with strenuous persons for a triennium, and that this exaction is forthwith to be permitted again to others who shall have offered a greater sum of prestation. From which leasing or exaction, if anyone shall have attempted to exact more than has been prescribed, such that he has begun to burden a merchant or a provincial under this exaction, let him know that he is to be condemned with capital peril.

CTh.4.13.2 [= 12,2 h.]

Idem a. menandro. universi provinciales pro his rebus, quas ad usum proprium vel ad fiscum inferunt vel exercendi ruris gratia revehunt, nullum vectigal a stationariis exigantur. ea vero, quae extra praedictas causas vel negotiationis gratia portantur, solitae praestationi subiugamus.

The same emperor to menander. Let no customs-duty be exacted by the stationarii from all provincials for those things which they bring in for their own use or to the fisc, or carry back for the purpose of cultivating the countryside,
but those things which are carried beyond the aforesaid causes or for the sake of negotiation (trade), we subject to the customary prestation.

dat. iii id. iul. crispo ii et constantino conss.

given on july 13, in the consulship of crispus for the 2nd time and constantine, consuls.

(321 iul. 13).

(321 July 13).

CTh.4.13.3 [= 12,3 h.]

Idem a. menandro. rusticanos usibus propriis vel culturae ruris necessaria revehentes vectigal exigi non sinimus: capitali poena proposita stationariis et urbanis militibus et tertiis augustanis, quorum avaritia id temptari firmatur. pro ceteris autem rebus, quas quaestus gratia comparant vendituri, solitum eos oportet vectigal agnoscere.

The same Augustus, to Menander. We do not permit a vectigal to be exacted from rustics who are conveying back things necessary for their own uses or for the cultivation of the countryside: with a capital penalty set forth against the stationarii and the urban soldiers and the Third Augustans, by whose avarice it is established that this is being attempted. But for the other goods which they procure for the sake of gain, to sell, it is proper that they acknowledge the customary vectigal.

dat. k. aug. crispo ii et constantino conss.

given on the kalends of august, crispus 2 and constantine, consuls.

(321 aug. 1).

(August 1, 321).

CTh.4.13.4 [= 12,4 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.13.4 [= 12,4 h.]

Imp. constantius a. ad proclianum proconsulem africae. praestatio vectigalis maximam continens utilitatem tanta debet diligentia custodiri, ut adsiduis licitationibus sumat augmentum.

Emperor Constantius Augustus to Proclianus, proconsul of Africa. The rendering of the tax-revenue, containing the greatest utility, ought to be guarded with such diligence that by frequent auctions it may take augmentation.

gravitas igitur tua vetustae praestationis augmenta viribus fisci de titulis vectigalium servari iubebit. dat. xiiii k. feb.

Therefore, your gravity will order that the augmentations of the long-standing prestation be kept for the strength of the fisc from the titles of the taxes.
Given on the 14th day before the Kalends of February.

constantinopoli constantio a. viii et iuliano c. conss. (356

at Constantinople, when Constantius, Augustus, in his 8th consulship, and Julian, Caesar, were consuls (356

[360] ian. 19).

[360] jan. 19).

CTh.4.13.5 [= 12,5 h.]

Code of Theodosius 4.13.5 [= 12,5 h.]

Idem a. ad martinianum vicarium africae. divalibus iussis addimus firmitatem et vectigalium quartam provincialibus et urbibus africanis hac ratione concedimus, ut ex his moenia publica restaurentur vel sarcientibus tecta substantia ministretur. epistula ad virum clarissimum vicarium prid.

The same Augustus to Martinianus, Vicar of Africa. We add confirmatory force to the imperial orders and grant a fourth part of the taxes to the provincials and the African cities
on this condition: that from these funds the public walls be restored, or that resources be supplied to those mending the roofs. A letter to the most distinguished man, the Vicar, on the day before.

id. iul. cilio datiano et cereale conss. (358 iul.

On the Ides of July. In the consulship of Cilius Datianus and Cerealis, consuls. (July 358

14).

CTh.4.13.6 [= 12,6 h.]

Imppp. valentinianus, valens et gratianus aaa. ad archelaum comitem orientis.

The Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, Augusti, to Archelaus, Count of the East.

ex praestatione vectigalium nullius omnino nomine quicquam minuatur, quin octavas solite constitutas omne hominum genus, quod commerciis voluerit interesse, dependat, nulla super hoc militarium exceptione facienda. proposita beryto iiii k. feb. post cons.

From the prestation of the vectigals (taxes) let nothing at all be diminished under anyone’s name; rather, let every kind of men who may have wished to take part in commerce pay the octavae (one-eighth duties) as usually established, with no military exception to be made in this matter. Posted at Berytus on the 4th day before the Kalends of February (January 29), after the consulship.

valentiniani et valentis aa. conss. (366

of valentinian and of valens, the augusti, consuls. (366

[368] ian. 29).

[368] Jan. 29).

CTh.4.13.7 [= 12,7 h.]

Codex Theodosianus 4.13.7 [= 12,7 h.]

Idem aaa. ad constantium proconsulem africae. ex reditibus rei publicae omniumque titulorum ad singulas quasque pertinentium civitates duae partes totius pensionis ad largitiones nostras perveniant, tertia probabilibus civitatum deputetur expensis.

the same, the Augusti, to Constantius, proconsul of Africa. from the revenues of the commonwealth and of all titles pertaining to each and every city, let two parts of the whole pension come to our Largitions, the third be assigned to the reasonable expenses of the cities.

dat. vii id. sept. mogontiaci p. c. gratiani a. iii et equiti v. c. conss.

dated September 7 at Mogontiacum, in the consulship of Gratian Augustus for the 3rd time and Equitius, a most distinguished man, consuls.

(375

[374] sept. 7).

[374] Sept. 7).

CTh.4.13.8 [= 12,8 h.]

Imppp. gratianus, valentinianus et theodosius aaa. palladio comiti sacrarum largitionum.

the emperors gratian, valentinian and theodosius, augusti, to palladius, count of the sacred largesses.

a legatis gentium devotarum ex his tantum speciebus, quas de locis propriis, unde conveniunt, huc deportant, octavari vectigal accipiant; quas vero ex romano solo, quae sunt tamen lege concessae, ad propria deferunt, has habeant a praestatione immunes ac liberas. dat. prid.

from the envoys of the devoted nations, let them take the octaval tax only on those kinds of goods which they bring hither from their own places, whence they come; but those which from Roman soil—provided they are permitted by law—they carry to their own places, let them have exempt and free from exaction. Given, the day before.

non. iul. constantinopoli, accepta xii k. aug.

on the nones of july at constantinople, received on the 12th day before the kalends of august.

syagrio et eucherio conss. (381 iul. 6).

Syagrius and Eucherius, consuls. (July 6, 381).

CTh.4.13.9 [= 12,9 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.13.9 [= 12,9 h.]

Idem aaa. palladio comiti sacrarum largitionum. ad virum clarissimum aegypti comitem litteras dedimus committentes, ut sciant usurpationem totius licentiae submo.............. (381-386...).

Likewise, the Augusti, to Palladius, Count of the Sacred Largesses. We have given letters to the most distinguished man, the Count of Egypt, commissioning that they may know the usurpation of all license to be remo.............. (381-386...).

CTh.4.14.0. [=brev.4.12.0.] De actionibus certo tempore finiendis.

CTh.4.14.0. [=brev.4.12.0.] On legal actions to be ended within a fixed time.

CTh.4.14.1pr. [=brev.4.12.1pr.]

CTh.4.14.1 pref. [=brev.4.12.1 pref.]

Imp. theodos. a. asclepiodoto pf. p. sicut in rem speciales, ita ad universitatem ac personales actiones ultra triginta annorum spatium minime protendantur.

Emperor Theodosius Augustus to Asclepiodotus, praetorian prefect: just as special actions in rem, so also universal and personal actions beyond the span of 30 years are by no means to be extended.

sed si qua res vel ius aliquod postuletur, vel persona qualicumque* actione vel persecutione pulsetur, nihilominus erit agenti triginta annorum praescriptio metuenda: eodem etiam in eius valente persona, qui pignus vel hypothecam non a suo debitore, sed ab alio possidente nititur vindicare. nam petitio finium regundorum in eo scilicet, quo nunc est, iure durabit.

but if any thing or some right is demanded, or a person is assailed by whatever* action or pursuit, nonetheless the thirty-year prescription will be to be feared by the one bringing suit; likewise the same will be in force for the person who strives to vindicate a pledge or hypothec not from his own debtor, but from another in possession. for the petition for the regulation of boundaries will endure under the law, namely as it now stands.

CTh.4.14.1.1 [=brev.4.12.1.1]

Quae ergo ante non motae sunt actiones, triginta annorum iugi silentio, ex quo competere iure coeperunt, vivendi ulterius non habeant facultatem. nec sufficiat precibus oblatis speciale quoddam, licet per annotationem, meruisse responsum vel etiam iudiciis allegasse, nisi, allegato sacro rescripto aut in iudicio postulatione deposita, fuerit subsecuta conventio. in eandem rationem illis procul dubio recasuris, quae post litem contestatam, in iudicium actione deducta habitoque inter partes de negotio principali conflictu, triginta denuo annorum devoluto curriculo, tradita oblivioni ex diuturno silentio comprobantur.

Therefore the actions which previously have not been set in motion, by a continuous silence of thirty years from the time when they began to be competent in law, shall have no further capacity to subsist. Nor shall it suffice, upon petitions presented, to have obtained some special response, even by annotation, or even to have alleged matters in the courts, unless, with the sacred rescript adduced or the postulation entered in court, a convening has followed. On the same reasoning, those will without doubt fall back into the same case which, after the issue has been joined, the action having been brought into judgment and a conflict having been held between the parties over the principal business, with a course of thirty years again having rolled by, are verified to have been consigned to oblivion by long-continued silence.

CTh.4.14.1.2 [=brev.4.12.1.2]

Non sexus fragilitate, non absentia, non militia contra hanc legem defendenda, sed pupillari aetate dumtaxat*, quam diu sub tutoris defensione consistit, huic eximenda sanctioni. nam quum ad eos annos pervenerit, qui ad sollicitudinem pertinent curatoris, necessario ei, similiter ut aliis, annorum triginta intervalla servanda sunt.

Not the fragility of sex, not absence, not military service are to be defended against this law, but only pupillary age*, so long as it stands under the defense of a tutor, is to be exempted from this sanction. For when it shall have come to those years which pertain to the solicitude of a curator, necessarily for it, just as for others, the intervals of thirty years must be observed.

CTh.4.14.1.3 [=brev.4.12.1.3]

Hae autem actiones annis triginta continuis exstinguantur, quae perpetuae videbantur, non illae, quae antiquitus fixis temporibus limitantur.

However, let these actions be extinguished in thirty continuous years, which seemed perpetual, not those, which from antiquity are limited by fixed times are limited.

CTh.4.14.1.4 [=brev.4.12.1.4]

Annorum autem curricula ita numerari conveniet, ut et illa in demensionem tempora reducantur, quae ante nostrae mansuetudinis sanctionem iugi taciturnitate fluxerunt.

However, it will be fitting to reckon the courses of the years in such a way that even those times be brought back into measurement, which before the sanction of our mansuetude have flowed by in continuous taciturnity.

CTh.4.14.1.5 [=brev.4.12.1.5]

Verum ne qua otioso nimis ac desidi querimonia relinquatur, ei, qui se fiducia perpetuitatis actionem non movisse commemorat, decem post hanc legem annorum spatia continua superioribus addi praecipimus, ut, si quidem ante sanctionem hac lege praefinitos annos decurrisse patuerit, praeter ea tempora, quae manarunt, decem actori annorum spatia prorogentur, ita ut tempus illi hoc continuum ex legis tempore numeretur. quod si decem illi anni superesse videbuntur aut amplius, ulterius eum nihil desiderare conveniet, sed proprio lapsu temporis decurrente ad triginta usque consummationem debere suo spatio esse contentum; si annos quidem restare non dubium est, sed infra decem eorum intervalla concludi, nihilominus etiam sic eum spatium tantum oportebit accipere, ut decem integer numerus compleatur; postquam hac definitione nulli movendi ulterius facultatem patere censuimus, etiamsi se legis ignorantia excusare tentaverit. dat.

But lest any complaint be left to one too idle and slothful, to him who recounts that, in the confidence of perpetuity, he did not move an action, ten continuous spaces of years after this law we order to be added to the former ones, so that, if indeed before the sanction it becomes evident that the years pre-defined by this law have run out, beyond those times which have flowed, ten spaces of years be prorogued to the actor, in such a way that this time be counted to him as continuous from the time of the law. But if those ten years will seem to remain or more, it will be fitting for him to desire nothing further, but with the proper lapse of time running down he ought to be content with completion up to thirty within his own span; if indeed it is not in doubt that years remain, but are enclosed within intervals under ten, nonetheless even so it will be proper for him to receive just so much span, that the whole number of ten be completed; since by this definition we have decided that there lies open to no one the faculty of moving further, even if he should try to excuse himself by ignorance of the law. Given.

xviii. kal. dec.

18th day before the Kalends of December.

constantinopoli, victore v. c. cos.

at constantinople, victor, a most distinguished man, consul.

interpretatio. haec lex, licet in reliquis rebus fuerit abrogata, propter hoc tamen ut poneretur oportuit, quia de tricennio loquitur, quod pupillis, quam diu sub tutoribus agunt, non debeat imputari, sed, ubi ad eos annos pervenerint, quibus curatores habere possent, id est vir ad quintum decimum et puella ad tertium decimum annum, ex eo in causis eorum tricennalis actio, quemadmodum omnibus, supputetur: sicut et novella valentiniani testatur, quae videtur haec obscurius inter cetera posuisse, quae tamen ita dicit: "excepto privilegio pupillaris aetatis, quod divae memoriae patris nostri theodosii lege concessum est, intra eadem tempora terminetur." nam et hoc lex ista evidenter exponit, ut, sicut illa, quae perpetua erant, ad tricennium iussa sunt revocari, ita omnes causae, quibus infra tricennium tempora constituta sunt, suis quibusque locis et temporibus observentur, hoc est ut, quaecumque* seu de vicennio seu de decennio seu de quinquennio seu de anni spatio posita sunt et his similia, nullatenus ad tricennium perducantur

interpretation. This law, although it has been abrogated in the remaining matters, nevertheless had to be set forth on account of this, because it speaks about the thirty-year period, which ought not to be imputed to wards, as long as they act under tutors; but, when they have arrived at those years at which they could have curators, that is, a man at the fifteenth and a girl at the thirteenth year, from then let the thirty-year action in their cases, as for all, be computed: just as also the Novella of Valentinian attests, which seems to have placed these things rather obscurely among the rest, which nevertheless thus says: "except for the privilege of pupillary age, which was granted by a law of our father Theodosius of blessed memory, let it be ended within the same times." For this law also clearly sets forth this, that, just as those things which were perpetual were ordered to be recalled to thirty years, so all cases for which times less than thirty years have been set are to be observed in their respective places and times, that is, that whatever* have been set either for twenty years or for ten years or for five years or for the space of a year, and the like, are by no means to be brought to thirty years

CTh.4.15.0 [=brev.4.13.0.] De quinquennii praescriptione.

CTh.4.15.0 [=brev.4.13.0.] On the five-year prescription.

CTh.4.15.1 [=brev.4.13.1]

Impp. honor. et theodos.

The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius.

aa. palladio pf. p. post alia: competitorem quinquennii possessor eliminet: debet enim iuxta constantinianae legis indultum hoc privilegio petitor arceri, quo fiscus noster excluditur. quod si quando fortassis emerserit, ordinarios iudices, competitionis obreptione rescissa, tuitionem pulsatis praestare iubemus enixam, quibus tamen lustralis aderit absque interpellatione possessio. dat.

The Augusti to Palladius, Praetorian Prefect, after other matters: let the possessor eliminate the competitor of the five-year term; for, in accordance with the indulgence of the Constantinian law, the petitioner ought to be kept off by this privilege, by which our fisc is excluded. But if at any time perchance such a case should surface, we order the ordinary judges, the surreptitious procurement of the competing claim having been rescinded, to furnish strenuous protection to the defendants, for whom, however, lustral possession will be at hand without interruption. Given.

viii. id. iul. ravenna, eustathio et agricola coss.

the 8th day before the ides of july, at ravenna, under eustathius and agricola, consuls.

interpretatio. quicumque* rem fiscalem per quinquennium possedisse probatur, ita ut a nullo exinde fuerit expulsus, et hanc ipsam rem aliquis sibi petere a principe voluerit, possidenti in tantum lege consultum est, ut etiam tuitionem ferre possessori iudicem iusserit et competitionis constitutionem ordinaverit rescindendam, si tamen ille, qui possedit, sine ulla inquietudine per quinquennium se docuerit possidere, quia hoc spatio temporis ab eo, qui sine molestia possedit, etiam fiscum suum iussit excludi

interpretation. whoever* is proved to have possessed fiscal property for a five-year period, such that thereafter he has been expelled by no one, and if someone has wished to seek this very property for himself from the princeps, it has been provided by law in favor of the possessor to such an extent that it has even ordered the judge to bring protection to the possessor and has ordained that the institution of a competing claim be rescinded, if, however, he who has possessed shall have shown that he possessed for a five-year period without any disturbance, because within this span of time it has ordered that even his own fisc be excluded by him who possessed without molestation

CTh.4.16.0. De re iudicata

CTh.4.16.0. On res judicata

CTh.4.16.1

Imp. constantinus a. ad proculum. preces et impetrata rescripta non placet admitti, si decisae semel causae fuerint iudiciali sententia, quam provocatio nulla suspendit, sed eos, qui tale rescriptum meruerint, etiam limine iudiciorum expelli.

Emperor Constantine Augustus to Proculus. It is not acceptable that petitions and rescripts obtained be admitted, if cases have once been decided by a judicial sentence, which no appeal suspends; rather, those who have obtained such a rescript are to be driven out even from the very threshold of the courts.

dat. vii kal. ian.

Dated on the 7th day before the Kalends of January (December 26).

constantino a. v. et licinio c. conss. (319 dec. 26).

in the consulship of Constantine Augustus, for the 5th time,
and of Licinius Caesar. (319 dec. 26).

CTh.4.16.2 [=brev.4.14.1]

Theodosian Code 4.16.2 [=Breviary 4.14.1]

Imppp. grat., valentin. et theodos.

The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.

aaa. ad potitum vicarium. post alia: in privatorum causis huiusmodi forma servetur, ne quemquam litigatorum sententia non a suo iudice dicta constringat.

aaa. to Potitus, the vicarius. after other things: in cases of private persons let this form be observed, lest any of the litigants be constrained by a sentence not pronounced by his own judge.

dat. x. kal. oct.

dated on the 10th day before the Kalends of October.

rom., ausonio et olybrio coss.

rome, ausonius and olybrius, consuls.

interpretatio. in causis privatorum talis ratio observetur, ut nullus alterius iudicis nisi sui sententia teneatur

interpretation. In causes of private persons let such a ratio be observed, that no one be held by the sentence of another judge except his own.

CTh.4.17.0. De sententiis ex periculo recitandis

CTh.4.17.0. On sentences to be recited from the docket

CTh.4.17.1

Imppp. valentinianus, valens et gratianus aaa. ad probum praefectum praetorio.

the emperors valentinian, valens and gratian, augusti, to probus, praetorian prefect.

statutis generalibus iusseramus, ut universi iudices, quibus reddendi iuris in provinciis permittimus facultatem, cognitis causis ultimas definitiones de scripti recitatione proferant. huic adicimus sanctioni, ut sententia, quae dicta fuerit, cum scripta non esset, ne nomen quidem sententiae habere mereatur, nec ad rescissionem perperam decretorum appellationis sollemnitas requiratur. dat.

by general statutes we had ordered that all judges, to whom we permit the faculty of rendering law in the provinces, once the cases have been examined, should bring forth their final definitions by the recitation of a writing. to this sanction we add that a sentence which shall have been spoken, when it was not written, should not even deserve to have the name of sentence, nor should the solemnity of an appellation be required for the rescission of decrees made amiss. given.

iii non. dec. treviris gratiano a. iii et equitio v. c. conss.

December 3, at Trier, in the consulship of Gratian Augustus for the 3rd time and of Equitius, a most distinguished man, consuls.

(374 dec. 3).

(374, Dec. 3).

CTh.4.17.2 [= 3 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.17.2 [= 3 h.]

Idem aaa. ad clearchum praefectum praetorio. iudex in proferenda sententia quae iurgantibus prosit, ad plenum recenseat, quidquid negotii fuerit illatum, quod senserit scribat et relegat, ne per errorem iudicis iterum a primordio novae litis sortiantur eventus.

The same emperors to Clearchus, Praetorian Prefect. The judge, in delivering a sentence that may profit the litigants, should review in full whatever
business has been brought, write what he has perceived and read it over again, lest through the judge’s error the outcomes of a new lawsuit be drawn again from the beginning.

dat. x kal. sept.

Given on the 10th day before the Kalends of September (August 23).

constantinopoli antonio et syagrio conss. (382 aug. 23).

at Constantinople, in the consulship of Antonius and Syagrius (382 Aug. 23).

CTh.4.17.3 [=brev.4.15.1; 2 h.]

Theodosian Code 4.17.3 [= Breviary 4.15.1; 2 h.]

Imppp. grat., valentin. et theodos.

The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.

aaa. clearcho pf. p. parere sublimitatem tuam nostris legibus convenit, ut in omnibus negotiis ex periculo promatur deliberationis plena sententia. dat.

The Augusti. To Clearcus, Praetorian Prefect: it is fitting that your Sublimity obey our laws, so that in all affairs there may be brought forth, out of peril, a full sentence of deliberation. Given.

xvi. kal. iun.

May 17.

constantinopoli, antonio et syagrio coss.

at Constantinople, with Antonius and Syagrius as consuls.

interpretatio. observare iudices specialiter debent, ut in omnibus causis sententia, quae deliberata fuerit, constitutis pariter partibus recitetur, ut ab his, a quibus causa dicta est, ad integrum, quae data fuerit sententia, cognoscatur

interpretation. judges ought specially to observe, that in all causes the sentence which shall have been deliberated, the parties equally constituted, be recited, so that by those by whom the cause has been pleaded, in full, the sentence which shall have been given may be known

CTh.4.17.4

Idem aaa. ad symmachum praefectum urbi. sententia non valeat, quae ex libello data non fuerit.

The same Augusti, to Symmachus, Prefect of the City. A sentence shall not be valid which has not been given on the basis of a libellus (written libel/complaint).

dat. iii kal. dec.

given on the 3rd day before the Kalends of December.

mediolano richomere et clearcho conss. (384 nov. 29).

at Milan, under Richomer and Clearchus, consuls. (384 nov. 29).

CTh.4.17.5 [=brev.4.15.2]

Theodosian Code 4.17.5 [=Breviary 4.15.2]

Iidem aaa. timasio comiti et magistro equitum. condicio* praeceptorum partibus praesentibus habita non potest immutari.

The same Augusti. To Timasius, count and master of cavalry. The condition* of the precepts, held with the present parties, cannot be altered.

dat. x. kal. april.

given on the 10th day before the Kalends of April.

constantinopoli, honorio n. p. et evodio coss.

at constantinople, honorius n. p. and evodius, consuls.

interpretatio. quicquid praesentibus partibus in causis fuerit ordinatum, plenissimam habebit firmitatem, nec poterit immutari

interpretation. whatever shall have been ordained in cases in the present parts will have the most plenary firmness, nor can it be changed

CTh.4.18.0. [=brev.4.16.0.] De fructibus et litis expensis.

CTh.4.18.0. [=brev.4.16.0.] On the fruits and the expenses of litigation.

CTh.4.18.1 [=brev.4.16.1]

Impp. valentin. et valens aa. olybrio pf. u. litigator victus, quem invasorem alienae rei praedonemve constabit, sed et qui post conventionem rei incubarit alienae, non in sola rei redhibitione teneatur, nec tantum simplorum fructuum praestationem aut eorum, quos ipse percepit, agnoscat, sed duplos fructus et eos, quos percipi oportuisse, non quos eum redegisse constabit, exsolvat.

The Emperors Valentinian and Valens, Augusti, to Olybrius, Urban Prefect. A defeated litigant, whom it shall be established to be an invader of another’s property or a robber, and likewise he who, after a convention (agreement) concerning the matter, has squatted upon another’s property, shall not be held only to the redhibition of the thing, nor acknowledge merely the prestation of simple fruits or of those which he himself has collected, but shall pay double fruits and those which ought to have been collected, not those which it shall be established that he actually brought in.

et praedoni quidem ratio a die invasi loci usque ad exitum litis habeatur; ei vero, qui simpliciter tenet, ex eo, quo, re in iudicium deducta, scientiam malae possessionis accepit. heredis quoque succedentis in vitium par habenda fortuna est. addimus etiam, ut impensas sumptusque* litis, re ad finem deducta, petitoribus praestent.

and for the depredator, indeed, a reckoning is to be had from the day of the invasion of the place up to the outcome of the suit;
but for him who simply holds, from that point at which, the matter having been brought into judgment, he received knowledge of bad‑faith possession.
The heir also, succeeding into the vice, is to have an equal condition. We add also that the expenses and costs*
of the litigation, the matter having been brought to its end, are to be furnished to the petitioners.

ac ne ipsos quidem petitores, qui inanes lites et iurgia non movenda ingerunt possidentibus, ab istius cautionis merito segregamus iubemus enim, ut, si intentio petitoris improba iudicetur, praestet possessori sumptus*, praestet impensas, quas eum toto litis tempore sustinuisse claruerit, etiamsi super hac re expressior cesset sententia iudicantis. dat. vii.

And not even the petitioners themselves, who thrust upon possessors empty lawsuits and wrangles that ought not to be stirred up, do we exempt from the due effect of this caution; for we order that, if the petitioner’s claim be judged wrongful, he shall furnish to the possessor the costs*, he shall furnish the expenses which it shall have been made clear that he bore for the whole time of the suit, even if a more express sentence of the judge is lacking concerning this matter. Given on the 7.

kal. mai. treviris, valentin.

on May 1 at Trier, Valentinian.

n. p. et victore coss.

n. p. and victor, consuls.

interpretatio. quisquis rem alienam male possederit, si in iudicio fuerit superatus, quod rem sibi non debitam occupare praesumpsit*: sed et ille, qui conventus a certo domino reddere pervasa noluerit, non solum pro hac ipsa re reddenda, quum superatus fuerit, teneatur, sed fructus rei ipsius duplos ex eo tempore, quo res pervasa est, cogatur exsolvere, non quales se ipse dixerit collegisse, sed quales per diligentem culturam consequi proprii domini utilitas potuisset. ille etiam, qui rem alienam scienter usurpare praesumpserit*, a die invasi loci usque ad consummatam litem simili ratione exigatur.

interpretation. whoever shall have ill-possessed another’s property, if he shall have been overcome in judgment, because he presumed to seize a thing not owed to himself*: but also he who, when summoned by the rightful owner, has refused to restore what has been seized, shall be held, not only to restoring this very thing when he shall have been overcome, but to be compelled to pay out double the fruits of the thing itself from that time at which the thing was seized, not such as he himself shall have said he collected, but such as through diligent cultivation the utility of the proper owner could have obtained. he also who shall have knowingly presumed to usurp another’s property*, from the day the place was invaded up to the suit’s consummation, shall be required in a similar manner.

nam qui simpliciter sine praesumptione* aliquam rem tenuerit, ex eo similiter solvat, ex quo, re in iudicium deducta, quod rem male possideat, conscientiam ipsius coeperit non latere. heredes quoque eorum in his damnis, si victi fuerint, quibus auctor ipsorum, simili modo succumbant. addimus quoque, eiusmodi personis ut et sumptus* et expensas litis ex eo die, a quo de tali re coeperint litigare, usque dum finiatur, pulsantibus reddant: nam et ipsi, qui alios possidentes pulsare tentaverint, si ea in iudicio repetant, quae sua probare non possint, similiter sumptus* et expensas litis pulsatis possessoribus reddant, quantum eos toto litis tempore perdidisse constiterit

for he who has simply, without presumption*, held some thing, let him likewise pay from that point
from which, the matter having been brought into judgment, his own conscience has begun not to lie hidden that he possesses the thing ill. Their heirs also, in these
damages, if they shall have been defeated, to which their author was liable, shall in like manner succumb. We add also that such persons should repay both the costs* and the expenses
of the suit, from the day on which they began to litigate concerning such a matter until it is finished, to the plaintiffs: for they also who have attempted to assail others in possession,
if they demand in court those things which they cannot prove to be theirs, shall likewise repay the costs* and the expenses of the suit to the assailed possessors,
as much as it shall have been established that they lost during the whole time of the suit

CTh.4.18.2 [=brev.4.16.2]

Impp. honor. et theodos.

The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius.

aa. asclepiodoto pf. p. terminato transactoque negotio posthac nulli actio, neque ex rescripto, super sumptuum* repetitione praestetur, nisi cognitor, qui de principali negotio sententiam promulgavit, cominus partibus constitutis iuridica pronuntiatione signaverit: victori causae restitui debere expensas, aut: super his querelam iure competere. post absolutum enim dimissumque iudicium nefas est, litem alteram consurgere ex litis primae materia. dat.

The Emperors to Asclepiodotus, Praetorian Prefect: when the business has been concluded and transacted, henceforth let no action be afforded to anyone, not even by rescript, concerning the repetition (recovery) of expenses*, unless the cognitor, who promulgated the sentence on the principal matter, with the parties convened in person, has endorsed by juridical pronouncement either: that the expenses ought to be restored to the victor in the case; or: that a complaint is competent in law concerning these. For after the judgment has been completed and dismissed, it is unlawful for a second lawsuit to arise out of the material of the first suit. Given.

iii. kal. april.

the 3rd day before the kalends of april.

constantinopoli, asclepiodoto et mariniano coss.

at constantinople, asclepiodotus and
marinianus, consuls.

interpretatio. posteaquam inter partes fuerit definitum iudicio intercedente negotium, quaecumque* actio propter repetendos sumptus* vel expensas litis obtenta fuerit, nullam habeat firmitatem, quam iudicati forma non continet: quia quicumque*, quod in iudicio adversario praesente non petiit, postea de eadem re litem aliam non poterit inchoare

interpretation. after the matter between the parties has been defined with a judgment intervening, whatever* action for the repetition of disbursements* or the expenses of the suit shall have been obtained shall have no validity, which the form of the adjudged (judgment) does not contain: because whoever*, that which he did not seek in court with the adversary present,
thereafter will not be able to commence another suit about the same thing

CTh.4.19.0. [=brev.4.17.0.] De usuris rei iudicatae.

CTh.4.19.0. [=brev.4.17.0.] On the interest of a matter adjudged.

CTh.4.19.1pr. [=brev.4.17.1pr.]

CTh.4.19.1 preface. [=brev.4.17.1 preface.]

Imppp. grat., valentin. et theodos.

The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.

aaa. eutropio pf. p. qui post iudicii finem, exceptis duobus mensibus, quibus per leges solutionum nonnumquam* est concessa dilatio, moram afferent solutioni, a die patrati iudicii, quo obnoxii redditi sunt, in duplicium centesimarum conveniantur usuras [extrinsecus scilicet medietatem debiti, de quo litigatum est, sicut prius constitutum est, inferentes] usque in id tempus, quo debitum solutione diluerint. quod a nobis exemplo aequabili ex iuris prisci est formulis introductum, ut, quia malae fidei possessores in fructus duplos conveniuntur, aeque malae fidei debitores simile damni periculum persequatur.

the same Augusti, to Eutropius, praetorian prefect. those who, after the end of the judgment, with the exception of two months, during which by the laws a postponement of payments is sometimes* granted, bring delay to payment, from the day of the judgment accomplished, on which they were rendered liable, shall be sued for interest at the double-centesima rate [moreover, paying in addition, of course, the half of the debt about which there was litigation, as was previously established] up to the time when they have dissolved the debt by payment. which has been introduced by us, with an even-handed example, from the formulas of the ancient law, so that, since possessors in bad faith are sued for double fruits, debtors likewise in bad faith may be pursued by a similar peril of loss.

CTh.4.19.1.1 [=brev.4.17.1.1]

Sed tamen creditor, ternis interiectis mensibus post sententiam, contestari moram debebit adhibitae tarditatis, ut ei centesimarum duplicium fructus possit acquiri. cavendum quippe ex diverso est etiam contra illam malitiam creditorum, ne, iudicatis ad solutionem cunctantibus, incipiant spe dupli foenoris imminere; quamquam iudicatum, si hanc poenam a se removere festinet, contractam pecuniam vel apud iudices obsignatam locare vel iudicio conveniat offerre, ut periculum duplicium usurarum incurrere ex ea die, qua obnoxius esse coeperit, desistat.

Nevertheless the creditor, with three months interposed after the sentence, must contest the delay of the tardiness that has been employed, so that the fruits of double hundredths (centesimae) may be able to be acquired for him. It must indeed be guarded, conversely, also against that malice of creditors, lest, with those adjudged delaying toward payment, they begin to threaten in the hope of double usury; although the adjudged party, if he hastens to remove this penalty from himself, should either place the contracted money, sealed, with the judges, or agree to tender it in court, so that he may desist from incurring the danger of double interest from the day on which he began to be liable.

CTh.4.19.1.2 [=brev.4.17.1.2]

Distinguendum vero hoc quoque arbitrati sumus, ut, si contractus debiti ex stipulatione descendit, et casu usurae per annorum curricula summam capitis impleverint (scilicet ut quantitas sortis quantitati foenoris adaequetur), post sententiam usurae duplices non utriusque debiti currant, sed capitis quidem duplae, usurarum vero simplae. dat. xv. kal.

We have judged this also to be distinguished thus: if the contracted debt descends from stipulation, and by chance the usuries, through the courses of years, have filled up the sum of the principal (namely, so that the quantity of the principal is equated to the quantity of the loan-usury), then after judgment double usuries are not to run on both debts, but double on the principal, and single on the usuries. Given on the 15th before the Kalends.

iul. thessalonica, gratiano v. et theodos. i. aa. coss.

july, thessalonica, when gratian 5 and theodosius 1, the augusti, were consuls.

interpretatio. debitor, qui post emissum iudicium, a quo victus fuerit, debiti summam implere neglexerit, transactis duobus mensibus, duplam centesimam debiti ipsius usque in diem solutionis se noverit redditurum; ita tamen, ut medietatem rei iudicatae mox cogatur inferre: quia non immerito sicut malae fidei possessor duplos fructus, ita et qui post iudicium tardior ad reddendum fuerit, duplam centesimam reddat. sed tamen et hoc contra creditorum malitiam, quibus debitores addicti fuerint, ordinamus, ut non velint pro spe duplicandae centesimae suo vitio tardius exsequi, quod fuerit iudicatum: unde debebit creditor, ternis interiectis mensibus, post datum iudicium contestari, ut sic duplam centesimam possit exigere.

interpretation. the debtor, who after the issuance of the judgment, by which he shall have been defeated, has neglected to fulfill the sum of the debt, when two months have elapsed, let him know that he will render double the centesima of that debt up to the day of payment; nevertheless in such a way that he be compelled forthwith to pay in half of the adjudged thing: because not without desert, just as a possessor in bad faith [owes] double fruits, so also he who after judgment shall have been slower to render shall pay double centesima. but nevertheless we also ordain this against the malice of creditors, to whom debtors have been adjudicated, that they not wish, for the hope of doubling the centesima, by their own fault to execute more slowly what has been adjudged: whence the creditor ought, with three months interposed, after the judgment has been given, to make formal protest, so that thus he may be able to exact the double centesima.

nam si collectam pecuniam habuerit debitor et oblatam; et ille, qui vicit, noluerit pro lucro duplandarum centesimarum accipere, signatam eam debitor apud idoneas faciat sequestrari personas, ut damnum usurarum postea non possit incurrere. hoc quoque praecipimus observari, ut, si debitoris cautio cum omni firmitate proferatur, et usurae per annos plures cum capitali debito se aequaverint, a debitore amplius non petatur. sane post iudicium duplam centesimam, quam reddi iussimus, taliter solvat, ut de capitali debito tantum duplae usurae reddantur: de illo vero, quod in usuris ante iudicium crevit, simpla tantum centesima detur

for if the debtor shall have had the money collected and offered; and he who has won
is unwilling to accept it for the profit of doubling the centesimae, let the debtor have it, sealed, sequestered with suitable persons, so that he may not thereafter incur the loss
of usuries. we also command this to be observed: that, if the debtor’s caution with all firmness is produced, and the usuries through several years have equaled the capital debt, nothing further be sought from the debtor. indeed after judgment let him pay the double centesima which we have ordered to be rendered, in such a manner that from the capital debt only double usuries be rendered; but for that which grew in usuries before the judgment, let only a simple
centesima be given

CTh.4.20.0. Qui bonis ex lege iulia cedere possunt

CTh.4.20.0. Who can cede their goods under the Julian law

CTh.4.20.1 [=brev.4.18.1]

Imppp. grat., valentin. et theodos.

The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.

aaa. ad basilium comitem s. l. ne quis omnino vel fisci debitor vel alienae rei in auro atque in argento diversisque mobilibus retentator ac debitor bonorum faciens cessionem, liberum a repetitione plenissima nomen effugiat; sed ad redhibitionem debitae quantitatis congrua atque dignissima suppliciorum acerbitate cogatur: nisi forte propriorum dilapidationem bonorum aut latrociniis abrogatam aut fortasse naufragiis incendioque conflatam vel quolibet maioris impetus infortunio atque dispendio docuerit afflictam. pp. romae prid.

aaa. to Basil, count of the sacred largesses. let no one at all, whether a debtor of the fisc or a withholder of another’s property in gold and in silver and in diverse movables, and a debtor of goods making a cession, escape with the title of freedom from the most full repetition; but let him be compelled to the redhibition of the owed quantity by a fitting and most deserved harshness of punishments: unless perhaps he shall have shown that the squandering of his own goods was taken away by robberies, or perhaps was brought about by shipwrecks and by fire, or was afflicted by whatever misfortune and loss of greater violence. pp. rome, the day before.

id. oct., ausonio et olybrio coss.

on the ides of october, in the consulship of ausonius and olybrius.

interpretatio. nullus, qui aut fiscali debito aut privato probatur obnoxius, si aurum, argentum vel mobile quodcumque* debuerit, ob hoc se credat a debito excusandum, quod dicat, de rebus suis se facere cessionem, sed poenis afflictus, quaecumque* debuerit, cogatur exsolvere: nisi forte eiusmodi persona sit, quae se probet omnem substantiam suam aut naufragio aut latrocinio aut incendio aut cuiuslibet maioris violentiae impetu perdidisse

interpretation. let no one who is proven obnoxious to either a fiscal debt or a private one, if he has owed gold, silver, or any movable whatsoever*, believe himself to be excused from the debt on this account, because he says that he makes a cession from his goods; rather, afflicted with punishments, let him be compelled to pay whatever* he has owed: unless perhaps he be a person of such a sort who proves that he has lost all his substance either by shipwreck or by banditry or by fire or by the assault of any greater violence.

CTh.4.20.2

Idem aaa. floro praefecto praetorio. professio uniuscuiusque inmutari contra statuta legum nostrarum pro calumniantium inconstantia et varietate non poterit.

The same three Augusti to Florus, Praetorian Prefect. The profession of each and every person cannot be altered, contrary to the statutes of our laws, on account of the inconstancy and variability of calumniators.

dat. iii kal. iun.

dated on the 3rd day before the Kalends of June (May 30).

constantinopoli antonio et syagrio conss. (382 mai. 30).

at constantinople, in the consulship of antonius and syagrius. (382 may. 30).

CTh.4.20.3 [=brev.4.18.2]

Theodosian Code 4.20.3 [= Breviary 4.18.2]

Apud acta imp. theodos. a. dixit: in omni cessione professio sola quaerenda est.

In the official records, Emperor Theodosius Augustus said: in every cession the profession (formal declaration) alone is to be sought.

idem dixit: in omni cessione sufficit voluntatis sola professio. dat. kal.

the same said: in every cession, the mere profession of will suffices.
given on the Kalends.

mai. honorio n. p. et evodio coss.

may. under the consuls honorius, most noble boy, and evodius.

interpretatio. quaecumque* aliquis alteri cesserit, profiteatur, se tantum rem cessisse vel causam, hoc est aut gestis aut scriptura aut testibus, et sola voluntatis illius professio pro omni firmitate sufficiat

interpretation. whatever* someone has ceded to another, let him profess that he has ceded only the thing or the cause, that is, either by public acts (gesta) or by writing or by witnesses, and the sole profession of that will shall suffice for all firmness (validity)

CTh.4.20.4

Cessionis ita firmitatem subsistere, si cuius rei per evidentem professionem voluntaria et evidens cessio teneatur, hoc est, ut cessionis nomine scriptura cuiuslibet rei cedentis voluntaria professione et subscriptione firmetur. quod si de vi et metu is qui cessit queri voluerit, intra annum similiter institutam peragat actionem. (...........).

The firmness of a cession thus stands, if, for any matter, by an evident profession a voluntary and evident cession is maintained, that is, that under the name of cession a writing concerning any thing be strengthened by the voluntary profession and subscription of the ceding party. But if he who has ceded should wish to complain on account of force and fear, he must prosecute the similarly instituted action within one year. (...........).

CTh.4.21.0. [=brev.4.19.0.] Quorum bonorum.

CTh.4.21.0. [=brev.4.19.0.] Of which goods.

CTh.4.21.1pr. [=brev.4.19.1pr.]

Codex Theodosianus 4.21.1 preface. [= breviary 4.19.1 preface.]

Impp. arcad. et honor.

The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius.

aa. petronio vicario hispaniarum. quid iam planius, quam ut heredibus traderentur, quae in ultimum usque diem defuncti possessio vindicasset, etiamsi quod possit tribui de proprietate luctamen?

the emperors to Petronius, Vicar of the Spains. What now is more plain than that there be delivered to the heirs those things which the possession of the defunct had vindicated up to the very last day, even if some contestation about proprietorship could be ascribed?

CTh.4.21.1.1 [=brev.4.19.1.1]

Theodosian Code 4.21.1.1 [= Breviary 4.19.1.1]

Constat autem, virum ab intestatae uxoris bonis, superstitibus consanguineis, esse extraneum, quum prudentium omnium responsa, tum lex ipsa naturae successores eos faciat.

It is settled, moreover, that the husband is a stranger to the goods of an intestate wife, her consanguineous relatives surviving, since both the responses of all the prudents (jurists), and the very law of nature, make them the successors.

CTh.4.21.1.2 [=brev.4.19.1.2]

Insuper etiam mansura perpetua sanctione iubemus, ut, omnibus frustrationibus amputatis, in petitorem corpora transferantur, secundaria actione proprietatis non exclusa. dat. vi. kal.

moreover we also command, by a sanction to endure perpetually, that, with all frustratory evasions cut off, the corporeal goods be transferred to the petitioner, the secondary action of proprietorship not excluded. given on the 6th day before the kalends.

aug. mediolano, olybrio et probino coss.

in august at milan, with olybrius and probinus as consuls.

interpretatio. iustum esse decernimus, ut, quodcumque* auctor usque in diem vitae suae tenuerit, petentibus heredibus debeat consignari, illi postea, cui competit, actione servata. virum quoque intestatae uxoris suae facultatem, quae sine filiis recessit, consanguineis eius, qui legitimi sunt, tradere mox sine ulla dilatione praecipimus et maritum proponere minime prohibemus, si quas sibi competere putaverit actiones

interpretation. we decree it to be just, that whatever* the grantor shall have held up to the day of his life ought to be consigned to the heirs requesting it, with the action preserved afterwards to him to whom it is competent. we also direct that a man deliver the estate of his intestate wife, who departed without children, to her kinsmen by blood who are legitimate, immediately without any delay; and we by no means forbid the husband to bring forward whatever actions he may think are competent to himself

CTh.4.22.0. [=brev.4.20.0.] Unde vi.

CTh.4.22.0. [=brev.4.20.0.] Whence by force.

CTh.4.22.1 [=brev.4.20.1]

Theodosian Code 4.22.1 [= Breviary 4.20.1]

Imp. constantinus a. severo. iudices absentium, qui cuiuslibet rei possessione privati sunt, suscipiant in iure personam, et auctoritatis suae formidabile ministerium obiiciant, atque ita tueantur absentes.

Emperor Constantine Augustus to Severus. Judges of the absent, who have been deprived of the possession of any thing, shall assume in law the person, and bring to bear the formidable ministry of their authority,
and thus protect the absent.

hos tamen iudices, quos absentium iussimus subire personam, intra hos terminos ministerii retinemus, ut, illibatis atque omnibus integris causae principalis internis, id solum diligenter inquirant, utrum eius, quolibet pacto, qui peregrinatur, possessio ablata est, quam propinquus vel amicus vel servulus quolibet titulo retinebat. nec hos, qui deiecti sunt, absentium nomine possidentes, quia minime ipsis dictio causae mandata sit, ab experiunda re secludant, nec si servi sint, eorum reiiciant in iure personas, quia huiuscemodi condicionis* hominibus causas orare fas non sit; sed post elapsa quoque spatia recuperandae possessionis legibus praestituta litigium eis inferentibus largiri conveniet, ut eos momentariae perinde possessioni restituant, ac si reversus dominus litigasset. cui tamen, quolibet tempore reverso, actionem recuperandae possessionis indulsimus, quia fieri potest, ut restitutio propter servulos infideles vel negligentes propinquos vel amicos et colonos interea differatur.

We nevertheless keep these judges, whom we have ordered to assume the person of absentees, within these limits of their office, that, with the internals of the principal cause inviolate and everything intact, they diligently inquire only this: whether, by whatever pact, the possession of him who is travelling abroad has been taken away, which a kinsman or friend or little servant was holding under any title. Nor should they, because the pleading of the case has by no means been entrusted to them, exclude from trying the matter those who have been cast out while possessing in the name of the absent, nor, if they are slaves, should they reject their legal persons, on the ground that it is not lawful for men of such a condition to plead cases; but even after the periods prescribed by the laws for recovery of possession have elapsed, it will be proper to grant a suit to them when they bring it, so that they restore them to provisional possession just as if the master, having returned, had litigated. To him, however, whenever he returns, we have granted an action for recovery of possession, because it can happen that restitution is meanwhile deferred on account of unfaithful servants or negligent kinsmen or friends and tenant-farmers.

absenti enim officere non debet tempus emensum, quod recuperandae possessioni legibus praestitutum est, sed reformato statu, qui per iniuriam sublatus est, omnia, quae supererunt, ad disceptationem litigii immutilata permaneant; iudicio reservato iustis legitimisque personis, quum valde sufficiat, possessionem tenentibus absentium nomine contra praesentium violentiam subveniri. dat. x. kal.

for to the absentee there ought not to be detrimental the elapsed time which is prescribed by the laws for recovering possession, but, the status which was taken away by injury having been reformed, let all things which remain continue unimpaired for the disceptation of the suit; the judgment being reserved to just and legitimate persons, since it is quite sufficient that aid be given to those holding the possession in the name of absentees against the violence of those present. dated the 10th day before the Kalends.

nov. mediolano, constantino a. vii. et constantio caes.

in november, at milan,
under the consulship of constantine augustus for the 7th time and constantius caesar.

coss.

consuls.

interpretatio. omnes iudices specialiter admonemus, ut nullus, absentibus dominis, res eorum praesumat invadere, sed contra improbos homines omnia per personam iudicis vindicentur, salvo principali negotio. quod si quis se adversus absentem negotium habere causatur, et si, cui illi, qui peregrinantur, rem suam commiserint gubernandam, nec actor nec procurator eorum aut aliquis servorum ad dicendam causam domino aut absente aut non iubente cogatur, sed si quid eis fuerit sublatum, mox his, qui domino absente exclusi sunt, quum interpellaverint, reformetur. ipse vero dominus, si forte per negligentiam servorum res recepta non fuerit, quum de peregrinis redierit, possessionem suam momenti beneficio, etiamsi annus excesserit, nullatenus recipere prohibetur, sed restitutis in integrum omnibus, quae eo absente sublata sunt, integra causae actio proponatur, inter legitimas dumtaxat* et integra aetate personas: quia dignum est, ut contra malitiam eorum, qui praesentes sunt, taliter absentibus iubeamus esse consultum

interpretation. we specially admonish all judges, that no one, with the masters absent, presume to invade their property; but, against wicked
men, let all things be vindicated through the person of the judge, the principal suit being saved. But if anyone alleges that he has a matter against an absent person,
and if the one to whom those who are traveling abroad have committed their property to be governed, neither their actor nor their procurator nor any of their slaves be compelled to plead
the case, the master being absent or not commanding; but if anything has been taken from them, at once let it be restored to those who, the master being absent, have been excluded, when
they have interpellated. But the master himself, if perchance through the negligence of the slaves the thing shall not have been recovered, when he returns from abroad,
is by no means forbidden to recover his possession by the benefit of the moment, even if a year has elapsed; but, all things restored in full which
were taken away while he was absent, an entire action of the cause shall be proposed, only among lawful persons and those of full age: because it is worthy that, against
the malice of those who are present, we in such manner order provision to be made for the absent.

CTh.4.22.2 [=brev.4.20.2]

Imppp. grat., valentin. et theodos.

The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.

aaa. ad potitum vicarium urbis. quisquis neque vulgato rescripto neque adversario solenniter intimato possessorem quietum dominio suo huiusmodi terrore turbaverit, ea in perpetuum lite mulctetur, quam praeoccupaverit violentia, quum precibus poposcisset audiri.

aaa. To Potitus, Vicar of the City. Whoever, neither with a rescript having been promulgated nor with the adversary having been solemnly intimated, shall disturb a possessor, quiet in his own dominion, by terror of this kind, let him be mulcted with that perpetual suit which he has forestalled by violence, when he ought to have sought to be heard by petitions.

quae non minus etiam eum tenebit condicio*, qui, iudicis interlocutione suppressa, sub specie iudicati ius alienum improba temeritate pervasit, ita ut neuter reparationem interfecti hoc pacto semel negotii audeat postulare. si autem, habito plerumque colludio, curatores vel tutores minorum his rem debitam ea occasione pervadant, ut pupillis vel adultis iurgandi copia et fructus adimatur, his eatenus subvenimus, ut eosdem non atterat damno culpa temeritatis alienae, sed illico quidem possessio ei, a quo est ablata, reddatur curatores autem vel tutores aeterna deportatione punitos bonorum quoque publicatio persequatur. dat.

which condition* will hold him no less also, who, the judge’s interlocution having been suppressed, under the species (appearance) of a judgment has invaded another’s right with wicked temerity, such that neither may dare to demand the reparation of the business once “killed” by this pact. if, however, collusion for the most part having been had, curators or tutors of minors should on that occasion invade the thing owed to them, so that to the wards or to those come of age the copia for litigating and the fruits are taken away, we succor them to this extent, that the same are not worn down by loss through the fault of another’s rashness, but at once indeed let possession be restored to him from whom it was taken away, and let the curators or tutors, punished with eternal deportation, be followed also by publication of goods. given.

prid. id. oct. treviris, syagrio et eucherio coss.

the day before the ides of october, at trier, with syagrius and eucherius as consuls.

interpretatio. quicumque* causam suam non ita agere voluerit, ut adversarium suum publice patefacta actione conveniat, et dominium possessoris illa ratione conturbaverit, ita negotio ipso careat, ut eam causam numquam* valeat reparare, qui prius rem voluit auferre, quam sperare a iudice, ut deberet audiri. similiter et ille omni causa privetur, qui iudicis ordinatione suppressa, iudicium se habere dicens, alienam possessionem sua praesumptione* pervaserit. quod si tutores etiam vel curatores minorum colludio aliquo pro eorum negotiis alienam rem sub ea, qua diximus, temeritate pervaserint, ut minorum causa depereat, nullum minoribus praeiudicium fieri ex tutorum vel curatorum temeritate permittimus, sed proprietatem suam sine dilatione recipiant; curatores autem vel tutores, amissis rebus suis, perpetuo exsilio deputentur

interpretation. whoever* will not wish to conduct his cause in such a way as to convene with his adversary publicly, the action laid open, and has disturbed the dominion of the possessor by that method, let him be so deprived of the very case that he may never* be able to repair that cause, he who wished to take away the thing before hoping from the judge that he ought to be heard. likewise, let that man also be deprived of every cause, who, the judge’s ordination having been suppressed, saying that he has a judgment, has by his own presumption* invaded another’s possession. but if even the guardians or curators of minors, by some collusion on behalf of their business, have under that rashness which we have spoken of invaded another’s property, with the result that the cause of the minors perishes, we permit no prejudice to be done to the minors from the rashness of the guardians or curators, but let them receive their property back without delay; moreover the curators or guardians, their own goods having been lost, are to be consigned to perpetual exile

CTh.4.22.3 [=brev.4.20.3]

Imppp. valentin., theodos. et arcad.

the emperors valentinian, theodosius, and arcadius.

aaa. ad messianum comitem r. p. plerosque detectum est rem privatam nostram, quam publicatio celebrata quaesiverat, invasisse: quam nos a retentatoribus ereptam sociari iubemus aerario, punientes contumacius, quam decus publicum sinebat, erectos, ut, qui litem inferre potuissent, nollent exspectare iudicium ac spernerent victoriam, quam iustitiae praescripsisset eventus, et amplecterentur, quod dedisset audacia. cadat igitur lite, quisquis operiri noluerit litis eventum, et quod recipere lege potuisset, contempt+or examinis violentus amittat.

aaa. to Messianus, count of the private property. It has been detected that many have invaded our Private Property, which a duly celebrated public confiscation had sought to acquire: which, rescued from the withholders, we order to be joined to the treasury, punishing those elevated more contumaciously than public decorum allowed,
so that those who could have brought a suit were unwilling to await judgment and spurned the victory which the event of justice would have prescribed, and embraced what audacity had given. Let him therefore fall in the suit, whoever has been unwilling to wait for the outcome of the suit, and what he could have received by law, let the violent despiser of examination lose.

illi vero, quos in tantum furorem provexit audacia, ut, quod iurgaturi apud examinis fidem sperare non possent, ante eventum iudicialis arbitrii illicita praesumptione* temerarent, aestimationem rei, de qua litigari convenerat, cogantur exsolvere. quod quidem etiam in privatis observandum negotiis generali lege sancimus. illud autem ab officio magnificentiae tuae cavendum esse decernimus, ut sacratissima domus nostra exspectare litem, non inferre cogatur, neque expetat, sed patiatur examen.

those indeed, whom audacity has driven into such fury that, being about to wrangle, what they could not hope for under the good faith of an examination, before the outcome of judicial arbitrament they would violate by illicit presumption*, let them be compelled to pay the estimation of the thing, about which it had been agreed to litigate. This indeed we sanction by a general law as to be observed also in private businesses. But we decree that this must be guarded against by the office of your Magnificence, that our most sacred house be compelled to await a suit, not to bring one, nor to seek it, but to suffer an examination.

dat. xviii. kal.

given on the 18th day before the Kalends.

iul. treviris, timasio et promoto coss.

july, at trier, timasius and promotus, consuls.

interpretatio. cognovimus, rem fisci nostri violenter aliquos invasisse, sed nos evidenti lege praecipimus, ut, si quis aut fiscalem rem aut privatam ante sententiam a iudice prolatam invaserit et noluerit exspectare litis eventum, perdat negotium, qui contempsit* exspectare iudicium. ille vero, qui hoc praesumpsit* invadere, quod per iustitiam apud iudicem non poterat obtinere, habita aestimatione, talem rem aliam illi domino restituat, qualem noscitur ante iudicium pervasisse

interpretation. we have learned that some have violently seized the property of our fisc, but we prescribe by a manifest law that, if anyone should have seized either fiscal property or private property before a sentence has been pronounced by a judge and has been unwilling to await the outcome of the lawsuit, let him lose the suit, he who has scorned* to await the judgment. but he, who has presumed* to seize that which he could not obtain by justice before the judge, a valuation having been held, shall restore to that owner another such thing as he is known to have seized before judgment

CTh.4.22.4 [=brev.4.20.4]

Impp. arcad. et honor.

The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius.

aa. arriano consulari liguriae. legis iteranda sunt beneficia, quae tantum absentibus detulerunt, ut, si perturbatus possessionis status sit vel direptum aliquid, ad repetendum momentum redintegrationemque fortunae servis etiam praebeatur facultas, amicis praeterea, parentibus, proximis vel libertis. iudicem quoque absentium commoda tueri oportet atque in his, quae comprobantur ablata, celeri redhibitione consulere, nec iudicium dilatione suspendi.

The emperors to Arrianus, consularis of Liguria.
The benefits of the law are to be reiterated, which have conferred so much upon absentees that, if the status of possession be perturbed or something plundered, for recovery and the reintegration of fortune the faculty be afforded even to slaves, moreover to friends, parents, next-of-kin, or freedmen.
The judge, too, ought to protect the interests of absentees and, in the case of those things that are verified as carried off, to provide by swift redelivery, nor is the proceeding to be suspended by delay.

sub quocumque* igitur nomine vel titulo possidenti repetendi copia praebeatur, qui utendae rei habuit facultatem, ut, quae in militia constitutis vel absentibus erepta esse constiterit, sub cuiuslibet personae repetitione reddantur. dat. xv. kal.

therefore, under whatever* name or title the possessor holds, let the means of repetition be afforded to the one who had the faculty of using the thing,
so that the things which have been established to have been snatched from those stationed in military service or from absentees may, upon the repetition of any person, be rendered back. given on the 15th day before the Kalends.

ian. mediolano, arcadio iv. et honorio iii. aa. coss.

jan. at milan, arcadius for the 4th time and honorius for the 3rd, the augusti, consuls.

interpretatio. propter absentes legem volumus iterare, ut, quicquid fuerit iis a qualibet persona sublatum, totum amicis eorum vel proximis vel servis, quum iudicem interpellaverint, sine dilatione reddatur: ut res, quam discedens dominus in sua proprietate dimisit, integra ab actoribus domini, quousque redeat, vindicetur. quaecumque* autem in militia constitutis vel absentibus pervasa fuerint, sine aliqua iubemus dilatione restitui

interpretation. on account of the absent we wish to iterate the law, that whatever has been taken away from them by any person, the whole be returned to their friends or relatives or slaves, when they have interpellated the judge, without delay: so that the property which the master, departing, left on his own property, be kept entire by the stewards of the master, until he returns, and be vindicated. whatever* moreover, for those established in military service or for those absent, has been seized, we order to be restored without any delay

CTh.4.22.5pr. [=brev.4.20.5pr.]

Iidem aa. petronio vicario hispaniarum. nec imperiale rescriptum, quod supplicatio litigatoris obtinuit, nec interlocutio cognitoris interpellare possessionis statum eo, qui rem tenet, absente permittitur, quia negotiorum merita partium assertione panduntur.

The same emperors, to petronius, vicar of the Spains. nor is an imperial rescript, which the supplication of a litigant has obtained, nor the interlocution of the cognitor
permitted to interpellate the status of possession in the absence of him who holds the thing, because the merits of the cases are unfolded by the assertion of the parties.

CTh.4.22.5.1 [=brev.4.20.5.1]

Vitia autem a maioribus contracta perdurant, et successorem auctoris sui culpa comitatur etc. dat. xv. kal.

But the vices contracted from ancestors perdure, and the guilt of its author accompanies the successor, etc. Given on the 15th day before the Kalends.

ian. mediolano, caesario et attico coss.

jan. at milan, caesarius and atticus, consuls.

interpretatio. nec per principis praeceptionem, si a litigatore fuerit obtenta, nec per responsum iudicis, si fuerit interpellatus, absente domino possessio ullius auferatur, quia prius conveniri debet ille, qui possidet, et nisi inter praesentes iudicium dari non potest, nec negotium terminari. nam quicumque* alienam vel absentis rem crediderit occupandam, noverit, etiam heredes suos similiter pro hac auctoris praesumptione* obnoxios esse mansuros

interpretation. neither through the prince’s precept, if it has been obtained by a litigant, nor through the judge’s response, if he has been interpellated, with the owner absent
let the possession of anyone be taken away, because he who possesses must first be convened, and judgment cannot be given except among those present, nor
can the matter be terminated. for whoever* shall have believed that another’s property, or the property of one absent, ought to be seized, let him know that even his heirs will likewise remain liable for this
presumption* of the author, to be held obnoxious.

CTh.4.22.6 [=brev.4.20.6]

Impp. honor. et theodos.

The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius.

aa. iuliano ii. proconsuli africae. momenti actio exerceri potest per quamcumque* personam. sub colore autem adipiscendae possessionis obrepta petitio alteri obesse non debet, maxime quum absque conventione personae legitimae initiatum iurgium videatur.

The Emperors to Julianus, Proconsul of Africa. An action of moment can be exercised through any* person whatsoever. But under the color of acquiring possession, a surreptitiously obtained petition ought not to injure another, especially since the litigation seems to have been initiated without the convention of the lawful person.

nihil autem opituletur conventio circa minorem habita, quum id rectius circa curatorem debuerit custodiri. dat. prid.

but a convention held concerning a minor avails nothing, since that ought more properly to have been observed concerning the curator. given, the day before.

non. mart. ravenna, constantio et constante coss.

the Nones of March, Ravenna, with Constantius and Constans as consuls.

interpretatio. ad recipiendum momentum, id est infra anni spatium cuiuslibet persona agere potest. si per obreptionem fuerit facta petitio, alterius parti praeiudicare non poterit. praeterea quum legitima persona non sit, nihil valeat actio contra aetatem minorem, quae contra curatorem suum potius debuit iusta ratione proponi

interpretation. for receiving the moment, that is, within the span of a year, any person can act. if a petition has been made through obreption, it cannot prejudice the other party. moreover, since he is not a legitimate (legally competent) person, an action against a minor age shall be of no avail, which ought rather to have been proposed with just reason against his curator (guardian)

CTh.4.23.0. [=brev.4.21.0.] Utrubi.

CTh.4.23.0. [=brev.4.21.0.] Whichever of the two.

CTh.4.23.1 [=brev.4.21.1]

Impp. arcad. et honor.

The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius.

aa. vincentio pf. p. galliarum. post alia: si coloni, quos bona fide quisque possedit, ad alios fugae vitio transeuntes, necessitatem condicionis* propriae declinare tentaverint, bonae fidei possessori primum oportet et celeri reformatione succurri, tunc causam originis et proprietatis agitari, non exspectatis temporibus nec denuntiatione solenni, quae locum in his negotiis non habebunt etc. dat.

The Augusti, to Vincentius, Praetorian Prefect of the Gauls. After other matters: if coloni (tenant-farmers), whom each one has possessed in good faith, passing over to others by the fault of flight, should attempt to evade the necessity of their own condition, it is proper that aid be given first to the possessor in good faith and by a swift reformation; then let the cause of origin and of proprietorship be litigated, without waiting for the terms nor for formal notice, which will have no place in these affairs, etc. Given.

iii. kal. iul.

june 29.

mediolano, stilicone et aureliano coss.

at milan, stilicho and aurelian, consuls.

interpretatio. si coloni rei alienae ad alios dominos forte confugerint, primum est, ut fugitivos suos, de cuius re exisse noscuntur, momenti beneficio possessor sine dilatione recipiat, et sic de eorum origine audiatur, nec requiratur in iudicio, ut prius titulum litis petitor scribat, quia initium litis ad momentariam non pertinet actionem

interpretation. if tenant-farmers (coloni) of another’s property should by chance take refuge to other masters, the first point is that the possessor, by the benefit of the momentary remedy, without delay receive back his fugitives, from whose property they are known to have gone out, and thus he be heard concerning their origin, nor be it required in court that the plaintiff first write the title of the suit, because the inception of the suit does not pertain to the momentary action

CTh.4.24.0. De aedificiis privatis et publicis

CTh.4.24.0. On private and public buildings

CTh.4.24.1

De servitute luminis vel aeris similiter constitutum est, ut inter privatorum fabricas decem pedes, inter publicas quindecim dimittantur. (....).

Concerning the servitude of light or of air, it has likewise been established that ten feet be left between the buildings of private persons, fifteen between public ones. (....).