Corpus iurisprudentiae Romanae

Repertorium zu den Quellen des römischen Rechts

Digesta Iustiniani Augusti

Recognovit Mommsen (1870) et retractavit Krüger (1928)
Convertit in Anglica lingua Scott (1932)
Dig. XLVIII8,
Ad legem Corneliam de siccariis et veneficis
Liber quadragesimus octavus
VIII.

Ad legem Corneliam de siccariis et veneficis

(Concerning the Cornelian Law Relating to Assassins and Poisoners.)

1Mar­cia­nus li­bro quar­to de­ci­mo in­sti­tu­tio­num. Le­ge Cor­ne­lia de si­ca­riis et ve­ne­fi­cis te­ne­tur, qui ho­mi­nem oc­ci­de­rit: cu­ius­ve do­lo ma­lo in­cen­dium fac­tum erit: qui­ve ho­mi­nis oc­ci­den­di fur­ti­ve fa­cien­di cau­sa cum te­lo am­bu­la­ve­rit: qui­ve, cum ma­gis­tra­tus es­set pu­bli­co­ve iu­di­cio prae­es­set, ope­ram de­dis­set, quo quis fal­sum iu­di­cium pro­fi­te­re­tur, ut quis in­no­cens con­ve­ni­re­tur con­dem­na­re­tur. 1Prae­ter­ea te­ne­tur, qui ho­mi­nis ne­can­di cau­sa ve­ne­num con­fe­ce­rit de­de­rit: qui­ve fal­sum tes­ti­mo­nium do­lo ma­lo di­xe­rit, quo quis pu­bli­co iu­di­cio rei ca­pi­ta­lis dam­na­re­tur: qui­ve ma­gis­tra­tus iu­dex­ve quaes­tio­nis ob ca­pi­ta­lem cau­sam pe­cu­niam ac­ce­pe­rit ut pu­bli­ca le­ge reus fie­ret. 2Et qui ho­mi­nem oc­ci­de­rit, pu­ni­tur non ha­bi­ta dif­fe­ren­tia, cu­ius con­di­cio­nis ho­mi­nem in­ter­emit. 3Di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus re­scrip­sit eum, qui ho­mi­nem oc­ci­dit, si non oc­ci­den­di ani­mo hoc ad­mi­sit, ab­sol­vi pos­se, et qui ho­mi­nem non oc­ci­dit, sed vul­ne­ra­vit, ut oc­ci­dat, pro ho­mi­ci­da dam­nan­dum: et ex re con­sti­tuen­dum hoc: nam si gla­dium strin­xe­rit et in eo per­cus­se­rit, in­du­bi­ta­te oc­ci­den­di ani­mo id eum ad­mi­sis­se: sed si cla­vi per­cus­sit aut cuc­cu­ma in ri­xa, quam­vis fer­ro per­cus­se­rit, ta­men non oc­ci­den­di ani­mo. le­nien­dam poe­nam eius, qui in ri­xa ca­su ma­gis quam vo­lun­ta­te ho­mi­ci­dium ad­mi­sit. 4Item di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus re­scrip­sit eum, qui stu­prum si­bi vel suis per vim in­fe­ren­tem oc­ci­dit, di­mit­ten­dum. 5Sed et in eum, qui uxo­rem de­pre­hen­sam in ad­ul­te­rio oc­ci­dit, di­vus Pius le­vio­rem poe­nam ir­ro­gan­dam es­se scrip­sit, et hu­mi­lio­re lo­co po­si­tum in ex­ilium per­pe­tuum da­ri ius­sit, in ali­qua dig­ni­ta­te po­si­tum ad tem­pus rele­ga­ri.

1Marcianus, Institutes, Book XIV. Under the Cornelian Law relating to Assassins and Poisoners, anyone who kills a man; or through whose malice a fire has originated; or who has gone about armed for the purpose of killing someone or committing theft; or who, being a magistrate, or presiding in a criminal case, enables false testimony to be given by which an innocent person may be prosecuted, or convicted, is liable. 1He also is liable who prepares poison, and administers it for the purpose of killing a man; or who, with malicious intent gives false testimony, by means of which anyone may be sentenced to death in a criminal prosecution; or any magistrate or judge who accepts money in consideration of causing someone to be accused of a crime. 2Anyone who has committed homicide is punished without taking into account the legal condition of the person who was killed. 3The Divine Hadrian stated in a Rescript that anyone who killed a man, without the intention of doing so, could be acquitted; and that anyone who did not kill a man, but wounded him for the purpose of killing him, should be convicted of homicide; and that the decision should be rendered according to the circumstances of the case, for if the aggressor drew a sword and struck him with it, there is no doubt of his having done this with the intention of killing him. Where, however, during a quarrel, he struck him with a spike, or a brass vessel used in a bath, although the article employed was of metal, still the attack was not made with the intention of killing him; and the penalty imposed upon one who in a quarrel committed homicide rather accidentally than intentionally, should be mitigated. 4The Divine Hadrian also stated in a Rescript that he who killed anyone who was forcibly attempting to commit an act of debauchery with himself, or with those belonging to him, should be discharged. 5But with regard to a husband who kills his wife surprised in the act of adultery, the Divine Pius stated in a Rescript that a lighter penalty should be inflicted upon him; and he ordered that anyone of inferior rank should be sent into perpetual exile, and that a person of distinguished position should be relegated for a certain time.

2Ul­pia­nus li­bro pri­mo de ad­ul­te­ris. In­au­di­tum fi­lium pa­ter oc­ci­de­re non pot­est, sed ac­cu­sa­re eum apud prae­fec­tum prae­si­dem­ve pro­vin­ciae de­bet.

2Ulpianus, On Adultery, Book I. A father cannot kill his son without his having been heard; but he should accuse him before the Prefect or the Governor of the province.

3Mar­cia­nus li­bro quar­to de­ci­mo in­sti­tu­tio­num. Eius­dem le­gis Cor­ne­liae de si­ca­riis et ve­ne­fi­cis ca­pi­te quin­to, qui ve­ne­num ne­can­di ho­mi­nis cau­sa fe­ce­rit vel ven­di­de­rit vel ha­bue­rit, plec­ti­tur. 1Eius­dem le­gis poe­na ad­fi­ci­tur, qui in pu­bli­cum ma­la me­di­ca­men­ta ven­di­de­rit vel ho­mi­nis ne­can­di cau­sa ha­bue­rit. 2Ad­iec­tio au­tem is­ta ‘ve­ne­ni ma­li’ os­ten­dit es­se quae­dam et non ma­la ve­nena. er­go no­men me­dium est et tam id, quod ad sa­nan­dum, quam id, quod ad oc­ci­den­dum pa­ra­tum est, con­ti­net, sed et id quod ama­to­rium ap­pel­la­tur: sed hoc so­lum no­ta­tur in ea le­ge, quod ho­mi­nis ne­can­di cau­sa ha­bet. sed ex se­na­tus con­sul­to rele­ga­ri ius­sa est ea, quae non qui­dem ma­lo ani­mo, sed ma­lo ex­em­plo me­di­ca­men­tum ad con­cep­tio­nem de­dit, ex quo ea quae ac­ce­pe­rat de­ces­se­rit. 3Alio se­na­tus con­sul­to ef­fec­tum est, ut pig­men­ta­rii, si cui te­me­re cic­utam sa­la­man­dram aco­ni­tum pi­tuo­cam­pas aut bu­bro­s­tim man­dra­go­ram et id, quod lus­tra­men­ti cau­sa de­de­rit can­th­a­ri­das, poe­na te­nean­tur hu­ius le­gis. 4Item is, cu­ius fa­mi­lia scien­te eo apis­cen­dae re­ci­pe­ran­dae pos­ses­sio­nis cau­sa ar­ma sump­se­rit: item qui auc­tor sed­itio­nis fue­rit: et qui nau­fra­gium sup­pres­se­rit: et qui fal­sa in­di­cia con­fes­sus fue­rit con­fi­ten­da­ve cu­ra­ve­rit, quo quis in­no­cens cir­cum­ve­ni­re­tur: et qui ho­mi­nem li­bi­di­nis vel pro­mer­cii cau­sa cas­tra­ve­rit, ex se­na­tus con­sul­to poe­na le­gis Cor­ne­liae pu­ni­tur. 5Le­gis Cor­ne­liae de si­ca­riis et ve­ne­fi­cis poe­na in­su­lae de­por­ta­tio est et om­nium bo­no­rum ad­emp­tio. sed so­lent ho­die ca­pi­te pu­ni­ri, ni­si ho­nes­tio­re lo­co po­si­ti fue­rint, ut poe­nam le­gis sus­ti­neant: hu­mi­lio­res enim so­lent vel bes­tiis sub­ici, al­tio­res ve­ro de­por­tan­tur in in­su­lam. 6Trans­fu­gas li­cet, ubi­cum­que in­ven­ti fue­rint, qua­si hos­tes in­ter­fi­ce­re.

3Marcianus, Institutes, Book XIV. Anyone who has prepared poison, or sells it, or keeps it for the purpose of killing human beings, is punished by the Fifth Section of the same Cornelian Law relating to Assassins and Poisoners. 1The penalty of this law is imposed upon any one who publicly sells injurious poisons or keeps them for the purpose of homicide. 2The expression “injurious poisons” shows that there are certain poisons which are not injurious. Therefore the term is an ambiguous one, and includes what can be used for curing disease as well as for causing death. There also are preparations called love philtres. These, however, are only forbidden by this law where they are designed to kill people. A woman was ordered by a decree of the Senate to be banished, who, not with malicious intent, but offering a bad example, administered for the purpose of producing conception a drug which, having been taken, caused death. 3It is provided by another Decree of the Senate that dealers in ointments who rashly sell hemlock, salamander, aconite, pine-cones, bu-prestis, mandragora, and give cantharides as a purgative, are liable to the penalty of this law. 4Likewise, he whose slaves, with his knowledge, have taken up arms for the purpose of obtaining or recovering the possession of property; or one who is the promoter of sedition; or who has appropriated shipwrecked merchandise; or who has represented matters which are false to be true, that an innocent person might be deceived; or who has caused this to be done; or who has castrated a man on account of debauchery, or in order to sell him, is, under the Decree of the Senate, subjected to the penalty of the Cornelian Law. 5The penalty of the Cornelian Law relating to Assassins and Poisoners is deportation to an island and the confiscation of all property. It is, however, at present customary to inflict capital punishment, unless the parties in question occupy such a high position that they are not amenable to the law. It is customary for persons of inferior rank to be thrown to wild beasts, and for those higher in the social scale to be deported to an island. 6It is permitted to kill deserters, just as if they were enemies, wherever they may be found.

4Ul­pia­nus li­bro sep­ti­mo de of­fi­cio pro­con­su­lis. Le­ge Cor­ne­lia de si­ca­riis te­ne­tur, qui, cum in ma­gis­tra­tu est es­set, eo­rum quid fe­ce­rit con­tra ho­mi­nis ne­cem, quod le­gi­bus per­mis­sum non sit. 1Cum qui­dam per las­ci­viam cau­sam mor­tis prae­buis­set, com­pro­ba­tum est fac­tum ig­na­tii tau­ri­ni pro­con­su­lis Bae­ti­cae a di­vo Ha­d­ria­no, quod eum in quin­quen­nium rele­gas­set. 2Idem di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus re­scrip­sit: ‘Con­sti­tu­tum qui­dem est, ne spa­do­nes fie­rent, eos au­tem, qui hoc cri­mi­ne ar­gue­ren­tur, Cor­ne­liae le­gis poe­na te­ne­ri eo­rum­que bo­na me­ri­to fis­co meo vin­di­ca­ri de­be­re, sed et in ser­vos, qui spa­do­nes fe­ce­rint, ul­ti­mo sup­pli­cio anim­ad­ver­ten­dum es­se: et qui hoc cri­mi­ne te­nen­tur, si non ad­fue­rint, de ab­sen­ti­bus quo­que, tam­quam le­ge Cor­ne­lia te­nean­tur, pro­nun­tian­dum es­se. pla­ne si ip­si, qui hanc in­iu­riam pas­si sunt, pro­cla­ma­ve­rint, au­di­re eos prae­ses pro­vin­ciae de­bet, qui vi­ri­li­ta­tem amis­e­runt: ne­mo enim li­be­rum ser­vum­ve in­vi­tum si­nen­tem­ve cas­tra­re de­bet, ne­ve quis se spon­te cas­tran­dum prae­be­re de­bet. at si quis ad­ver­sus edic­tum meum fe­ce­rit, me­di­co qui­dem, qui ex­ci­de­rit, ca­pi­ta­le erit, item ip­si qui se spon­te ex­ci­den­dum prae­buit’.

4Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book VII. He is liable under the Cornelian Law relating to Assassins who, while occupying the position of magistrate, commits some act involving the life of a man which is not authorized by law. 1When a man, through mere wantonness, causes the death of another, the decision of Ignatius Taurinus, Proconsul of Bsetica, who relegated the guilty party for a term of five years, was confirmed by the Divine Hadrian. 2The Divine Hadrian also stated the following in a Rescript: “It is forbidden by the Imperial Constitutions that eunuchs should be made, and they provide that persons who are convicted of this crime are liable to the penalty of the Cornelian Law, and that their property shall with good reason be confiscated by the Treasury. “But with reference to slaves who have made eunuchs, they should be punished capitally, and those who are liable to this public crime and do not appear, shall, even when absent, be sentenced under the Cornelian Law. It is clear that if persons who have suffered this injury demand justice, the Governor of the province should hear those who have lost their virility; for no one has a right to castrate a freeman or a slave, either against his consent or with it, and no one can voluntarily offer himself to be castrated. If anyone should violate my Edict, the physician who performed the operation shall be punished with death, as well as anyone who willingly offered himself for emasculation.”

5Pau­lus li­bro se­cun­do de of­fi­cio pro­con­su­lis. Hi quo­que, qui thli­bias fa­ciunt, ex con­sti­tu­tio­ne di­vi Ha­d­ria­ni ad Nin­nium Has­tam in ea­dem cau­sa sunt, qua hi qui cas­trant.

5Paulus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book II. Those also who render persons impotent are, by a Constitution of the Divine Hadrian addressed to Ninius Hasta, placed in the same class with those who perform castration.

6Ve­nu­leius Sa­tur­ni­nus li­bro pri­mo de of­fi­cio pro­con­su­lis. Is, qui ser­vum cas­tran­dum tra­di­de­rit, pro par­te di­mi­dia bo­no­rum mul­ta­tur ex se­na­tus con­sul­to, quod Ne­ra­tio Pris­co et An­nio Ve­ro con­su­li­bus fac­tum est.

6Venuleius Saturninus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book I. He who delivers a slave to be castrated shall be punished by a fine of half his property, under a decree of the Senate enacted during the Consulate of Neratius Priscus and Annius Verus.

7Pau­lus li­bro sin­gu­la­ri de pu­bli­cis iu­di­ciis. In le­ge Cor­ne­lia do­lus pro fac­to ac­ci­pi­tur. ne­que in hac le­ge cul­pa la­ta pro do­lo ac­ci­pi­tur. qua­re si quis al­to se prae­ci­pi­ta­ve­rit et su­per alium ve­ne­rit eum­que oc­ci­de­rit, aut pu­ta­tor, ex ar­bo­re cum ra­mum de­ice­ret, non prae­cla­ma­ve­rit et prae­ter­eun­tem oc­ci­de­rit, ad hu­ius le­gis co­er­ci­tio­nem non per­ti­net.

7Paulus, On Public Prosecutions. Under the Cornelian Law, the degree of fraud depends upon the act, but by this law gross negligence is not considered fraud. Wherefore, if anyone precipitates himself from a height and falls upon another and kills him, or if a man trimming trees throwns down a branch and does not give warning, but kills a passer-by, he will not be liable to punishment under this law.

8Ul­pia­nus li­bro tri­gen­si­mo ter­tio ad edic­tum. Si mu­lie­rem vis­ce­ri­bus suis vim in­tu­lis­se, quo par­tum ab­ige­ret, con­sti­te­rit, eam in ex­ilium prae­ses pro­vin­ciae ex­iget.

8Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book XXXIII. If it should be proved that a woman has employed force upon her abdomen for the purpose of producing abortion, the Governor of the province shall send her into exile.

9Idem li­bro tri­gen­si­mo sep­ti­mo ad edic­tum. Fu­rem noc­tur­num si quis oc­ci­de­rit, ita de­mum im­pu­ne fe­ret, si par­ce­re ei si­ne pe­ri­cu­lo suo non po­tuit.

9The Same, On the Edict, Book XVIII. If anyone kills a thief at night, he can only do so with impunity, when he could not have spared him without placing himself in jeopardy.

10Idem li­bro oc­ta­vo de­ci­mo ad edic­tum. Si quis do­lo in­su­lam meam ex­us­se­rit, ca­pi­tis poe­na plec­te­tur qua­si in­cen­dia­rius.

10The Same, On the Edict, Book XVIII. If anyone should maliciously burn my house, he shall suffer capital punishment as an incendiary.

11Mo­des­ti­nus li­bro sex­to re­gu­la­rum. Cir­cum­ci­de­re iu­daeis fi­lios suos tan­tum re­scrip­to di­vi Pii per­mit­ti­tur: in non eius­dem re­li­gio­nis qui hoc fe­ce­rit, cas­tran­tis poe­na ir­ro­ga­tur. 1Ser­vo si­ne iu­di­ce ad bes­tias da­to non so­lum qui ven­di­dit poe­na, ve­rum et qui com­pa­ra­vit te­ne­bi­tur. 2Post le­gem Pe­tro­niam et se­na­tus con­sul­ta ad eam le­gem per­ti­nen­tia do­mi­nis po­tes­tas ab­la­ta est ad bes­tias de­pug­nan­das suo ar­bi­trio ser­vos tra­de­re: ob­la­to ta­men iu­di­ci ser­vo, si ius­ta sit do­mi­ni que­rel­la, sic poe­nae tra­de­tur.

11Modestinus, Rules, Book VI. By a Rescript of the Divine Pius, Jews are permitted to circumcise only their own children, and anyone who performs this operation upon persons of a different religion will incur the penalty for castration. 1If a slave, without having been sentenced, is thrown to wild beasts, not only he who sold him, but also he who purchased him will be liable to punishment. 2Since the passage of the Petronian Law and the Decrees of the Senate having reference to it, masters are deprived of the power of giving up their slaves, whenever they please, for the purpose of fighting wild beasts. A master, however, can produce his slave in court, and if his complaint is well founded, the slave can be subjected to the penalty,

12Idem li­bro oc­ta­vo re­gu­la­rum. In­fans vel fu­rio­sus si ho­mi­nem oc­ci­de­rint, le­ge Cor­ne­lia non te­nen­tur, cum al­te­rum in­no­cen­tia con­si­lii tue­tur, al­te­rum fa­ti in­fe­li­ci­tas ex­cu­sat.

12The Same, Rules, Book VIII. When an infant or an insane person commits homicide, he is not liable under the Cornelian Law; for absence of intention protects the one, and his unhappy fate excuses the other.

13Idem li­bro duo­de­ci­mo pan­dec­ta­rum. Ex se­na­tus con­sul­to eius le­gis poe­na dam­na­ri iu­be­tur, qui ma­la sa­cri­fi­cia fe­ce­rit ha­bue­rit.

13The Same, Pandects, Book XII. By a decree of the Senate it is ordered that anyone who offers sacrifices for the purpose of causing misfortune shall be subjected to the penalty of this law.

14Cal­lis­tra­tus li­bro sex­to de co­gni­tio­ni­bus. Di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus in haec ver­ba re­scrip­sit: ‘in ma­le­fi­ciis vo­lun­tas spec­ta­tur, non ex­itus’.

14Callistratus, On Judicial Inquiries, Book VI. The Divine Hadrian stated the following in a Rescript: “In the perpetration of crime, the intention, and not the event, is considered.”

15Ul­pia­nus li­bro oc­ta­vo ad le­gem Iu­liam et Pa­piam. Ni­hil in­ter­est, oc­ci­dat quis an cau­sam mor­tis prae­beat.

15Ulpianus, On the Lex Julia et Papia, Book VIII. It makes no difference whether one actually kills another, or is merely the cause of his death.

16Mo­des­ti­nus li­bro ter­tio de poe­nis. Qui cae­dem ad­mi­se­runt spon­te do­lo­ve ma­lo, in ho­no­re ali­quo po­si­ti de­por­ta­ri so­lent, qui se­cun­do gra­du sunt, ca­pi­te pu­niun­tur. fa­ci­lius hoc in de­cu­rio­nes fie­ri pot­est, sic ta­men, ut con­sul­to prius prin­ci­pe et iu­ben­te id fiat: ni­si for­te tu­mul­tus ali­ter se­da­ri non pos­sit.

16Modestinus, On Punishments, Book III. Those who voluntarily or maliciously commit murder are usually deported, if they are of high rank; but if they are of inferior station they are punished with death. This, however, is more excusable in decurions, where they have previously consulted the Emperor, and acted by his order; unless the tumult could not otherwise have been suppressed.

17Pau­lus li­bro quin­to sen­ten­tia­rum. Si in ri­xa per­cus­sus ho­mo per­ie­rit, ic­tus unius cu­ius­que in hoc col­lec­to­rum con­tem­pla­ri opor­tet.

17Paulus, Sentences, Book V. If a man after having been struck in a quarrel dies, the blow given by each of the persons assembled should be investigated.