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. L6,
De iure immunitatis
Liber quinquagesimus
VI.

De iure immunitatis

(On the Right of Immunity.)

1Ul­pia­nus li­bro ter­tio opi­nio­num. Qui ob hos tan­tum in na­vi­bus sint, ut in eis agen­di cau­sa ope­ra­ren­tur, nul­la con­sti­tu­tio­ne im­mu­ni­ta­tem a mu­ne­ri­bus ci­vi­li­bus ha­bent. 1Per­so­nis da­tae im­mu­ni­ta­tes he­redi­bus non re­lin­quun­tur. 2Sed et ge­ne­ri pos­te­ris­que da­tae cus­to­di­tae­que ad eos, qui ex fe­mi­nis na­ti sunt, non per­ti­nent.

1Ulpianus, Opinions, Book III. Those who are only on board ships for the purpose of navigating them are not entitled to immunity from civil employments, by the terms of any Imperial Constitution. 1Immunity granted to anyone does not descend to his heirs. 2Where it is given to and acquired by a family and its descendants, it does not pass to those born of the women of this family.

2Idem li­bro quar­to de of­fi­cio pro­con­su­lis. Si qui cer­ta con­di­cio­ne mu­ne­ri­bus vel ho­no­ri­bus se ad­strin­xe­runt, cum alias com­pel­li non pos­sent in­vi­ti sus­ci­pe­re is­tum ho­no­rem: fi­des eis ser­van­da est con­di­cio­que, qua ad mu­ne­ra si­ve ho­no­res ap­pli­ca­re se pas­si sunt.

2The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IV. Where persons are obliged to discharge the duties of public employment or office, under a certain condition, when they could not otherwise be compelled to do so against their consent, good faith must be observed by them, and the condition under which they agreed to devote themselves to the exercise of the said employments or office must be complied with.

3Idem ex eo­dem li­bro. Im­pu­be­res, quam­vis ne­ces­si­tas pen­u­riae ho­mi­num co­gat, ad ho­no­res non es­se ad­mit­ten­dos re­scrip­to ad ve­nidium Ru­fum le­ga­tum Ci­li­ciae de­cla­ra­tur.

3The Same, In The Same Book. It was stated in a Rescript addressed to Benidius Rufus, Governor of Cilicia, that minors under the age of puberty should not be admitted to hold office, even if the scarcity of eligible persons appeared to render this necessary.

4Idem li­bro quin­to. Ma­io­res sep­tua­gin­ta an­nis a tu­te­lis et mu­ne­ri­bus per­so­na­li­bus va­cant. sed qui in­gres­sus est sep­tua­gen­si­mum an­num, non­dum egres­sus, hac va­ca­tio­ne non ute­tur, quia non vi­de­tur ma­ior es­se sep­tua­gin­ta an­nis qui an­num agit sep­tua­gen­si­mum.

4The Same, Book V. Men over seventy years of age are exempt from guardianships and personal employments. Anyone, however, who has entered his seventieth year, but not yet completed it, cannot avail himself of this excuse, because he who is in his seventieth year is not considered to be over seventy years of age.

5Mo­des­ti­nus li­bro sex­to re­gu­la­rum. Im­mu­ni­ta­tes ge­ne­ra­li­ter tri­bu­tae eo iu­re, ut ad pos­te­ros trans­mit­te­ren­tur, in per­pe­tuum suc­ce­den­ti­bus du­rant.

5Modestinus, Rules, Book VI. Immunities, generally speaking, are granted to a person in such a way that they can be transmitted to his descendants, and are perpetual, so far as his male successors are concerned.

6Cal­lis­tra­tus li­bro pri­mo de co­gni­tio­ni­bus. Sem­per in ci­vi­ta­te nos­tra se­nec­tus ve­ne­ra­bi­lis fuit: nam­que ma­io­res nos­tri pae­ne eun­dem ho­no­rem se­ni­bus, quem ma­gis­tra­ti­bus tri­bue­bant. cir­ca mu­ne­ra quo­que mu­ni­ci­pa­lia sub­eun­da idem ho­nor se­nec­tu­ti tri­bu­tus est. sed eum, qui in se­nec­tu­te lo­cu­ples fac­tus est et an­te nul­lo pu­bli­co mu­ne­re func­tus est, di­ci pot­est non ex­imi ab hoc one­re pri­vi­le­gio ae­ta­tis, ma­xi­me si non tam cor­po­ris ha­beat ve­xa­tio­nem quam pe­cu­niae ero­ga­tio­nem in­dic­ti mu­ne­ris ad­mi­nis­tra­tio, et ex ea sit ci­vi­ta­te, in qua non fa­ci­le suf­fi­cien­tes vi­ri pu­bli­cis mu­ne­ri­bus in­ve­nian­tur. 1Le­gem quo­que re­spi­ci cu­ius­que lo­ci opor­tet, an, cum ali­quas im­mu­ni­ta­tes no­mi­na­tim com­plec­te­re­tur, et­iam de nu­me­ro an­no­rum in ea con­me­mo­re­tur. id­que et­iam col­li­gi pot­est ex lit­te­ris di­vi Pii, quas emi­sit ad En­nium Pro­cu­lum pro­con­su­lem pro­vin­ciae Afri­cae. 2De­mons­tra­tur va­rie nec abs­ci­se nu­me­rum li­be­ro­rum ad ex­cu­sa­tio­nem mu­ni­ci­pa­lium mu­ne­rum prod­es­se ex re­scrip­tis di­vi Hel­vii Per­ti­na­cis. nam­que Sil­vio Can­di­do in haec ver­ba re­scrip­sit: ‘Εἰ καὶ μὴ πασῶν λειτουργιῶν ἀφίησιν τοὺς πατέρας ὁ τῶν τέκνων ἀριθμός, ἀλλ’ οὖν ἐπειδὴ ἑκκαίδεκα παῖδας ἔχειν διὰ τοῦ βιβλίου ἐδήλωσας, οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλογον, ὥστε συγχωρῆσαι σχολάζειν τῇ παιδοτροφίᾳ καὶ ἀνέσθαι σε τῶν λειτουργιῶν’. 3Neg­otia­to­res, qui an­no­nam ur­bis ad­iu­vant, item na­vi­cu­la­rii, qui an­no­nae ur­bis ser­viunt, im­mu­ni­ta­tem a mu­ne­ri­bus pu­bli­cis con­se­quun­tur, quam­diu in eius­mo­di ac­tu sunt. nam re­mu­ne­ran­da pe­ri­cu­la eo­rum, quin et­iam ex­hor­tan­da prae­miis me­ri­to pla­cuit, ut qui per­egre mu­ne­ri­bus et qui­dem pu­bli­cis cum pe­ri­cu­lo et la­bo­re fun­gan­tur, a do­mes­ti­cis ve­xa­tio­ni­bus et sump­ti­bus li­be­ren­tur: cum non sit alie­num di­ce­re et­iam hos rei pu­bli­cae cau­sa, dum an­no­nae ur­bis ser­viunt, ab­es­se. 4Im­mu­ni­ta­ti, quae na­vi­cu­la­riis prae­sta­tur, cer­ta for­ma da­ta est: quam im­mu­ni­ta­tem ip­si dum­ta­xat ha­bent, non et­iam li­be­ris aut li­ber­tis eo­rum prae­sta­tur: id­que prin­ci­pa­li­bus con­sti­tu­tio­ni­bus de­cla­ra­tur. 5Di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus re­scrip­sit im­mu­ni­ta­tem na­vium ma­ri­ti­ma­rum dum­ta­xat ha­be­re, qui an­no­nae ur­bis ser­viunt. 6Li­cet in cor­po­re na­vi­cu­la­rio­rum quis sit, na­vem ta­men vel na­ves non ha­beat nec om­nia ei con­gruant, quae prin­ci­pa­li­bus con­sti­tu­tio­ni­bus cau­ta sunt, non pot­erit pri­vi­le­gio na­vi­cu­la­riis in­dul­to uti. id­que et di­vi fra­tres re­scrip­se­runt in haec ver­ba: ‘Ἦσαν καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς ἐπὶ προφάσει τῶν ναυκλήρων καὶ τὸν σῖτον καὶ ἔλαιον ἐμπορευομένων εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ῥωμαϊκοῦ ὄντων ἀτελῶν ἀξιοῦντες τὰς λειτουργίας διαδιδράσκειν, μήτε ἐπιπλέοντες μήτε τὸ πλέον μέρος τῆς οὐσίας ἐν ταῖς ναυκληρίαις καὶ ταῖς ἐμπορίαις ἔχοντες. ἀφαιρεθήτω τῶν τοιούτων ἡ ἀτέλεια’. 7Hoc cir­ca va­ca­tio­nes di­cen­dum est, ut, si an­te quis ad mu­ne­ra mu­ni­ci­pa­lia vo­ca­tus sit, quam neg­otia­ri in­ci­pe­ret, vel an­te­quam in col­le­gium ad­su­me­re­tur quod im­mu­ni­ta­tem pa­riat, vel an­te­quam sep­tua­ge­na­rius fie­ret. vel an­te­quam pu­bli­ce pro­fi­te­re­tur, vel an­te­quam li­be­ros sus­ci­pe­ret, com­pel­la­tur ad ho­no­rem ge­ren­dum. 8Neg­otia­tio pro in­cre­men­to fa­cul­ta­tium ex­er­cen­da est. alio­quin si quis ma­io­re pe­cu­niae suae par­te neg­otia­tio­nem ex­er­ce­bit, rur­sus lo­cu­ples fac­tus in ea­dem quan­ti­ta­te neg­otia­tio­nis per­se­ve­ra­ve­rit, te­ne­bi­tur mu­ne­ri­bus, sic­uti lo­cu­ple­tes, qui mo­di­ca pe­cu­nia com­pa­ra­tis na­vi­bus mu­ne­ri­bus se pu­bli­cis sub­tra­he­re temp­tant: id­que ita ob­ser­van­dum epis­tu­la di­vi Ha­d­ria­ni scrip­ta est. 9Di­vus quo­que Pius re­scrip­sit, ut, quo­tiens de ali­quo na­vi­cu­la­rio quae­ra­tur, il­lud ex­cu­tia­tur, an ef­fu­gien­do­rum mu­ne­rum cau­sa ima­gi­nem na­vi­cu­la­rii ind­uat. 10Con­duc­to­res et­iam vec­ti­ga­lium fis­ci ne­ces­si­ta­te sub­eun­do­rum mu­ni­ci­pa­lium mu­ne­rum non ob­strin­gun­tur: id­que ita ob­ser­van­dum di­vi fra­tres re­scrip­se­runt. ex quo prin­ci­pa­li re­scrip­to in­tel­le­gi pot­est non ho­no­ri con­duc­to­rum da­tum, ne com­pel­lan­tur ad mu­ne­ra mu­ni­ci­pa­lia, sed ne ex­te­nuen­tur fa­cul­ta­tes eo­rum, quae sub­sig­na­tae sint fis­co. un­de sub­sis­ti pot­est, an pro­hi­ben­di sint a prae­si­de vel pro­cu­ra­to­re Cae­sa­ris et­iam si ul­tro se of­fe­rant mu­ni­ci­pa­li­bus mu­ne­ri­bus: quod pro­pius est de­fen­de­re, ni­si si pa­ria fis­co fe­cis­se di­can­tur. 11Co­lo­ni quo­que Cae­sa­ris a mu­ne­ri­bus li­be­ran­tur, ut ido­nio­res prae­diis fis­ca­li­bus ha­bean­tur. 12Qui­bus­dam col­le­giis vel cor­po­ri­bus, qui­bus ius co­eun­di le­ge per­mis­sum est, im­mu­ni­tas tri­bui­tur: sci­li­cet eis col­le­giis vel cor­po­ri­bus, in qui­bus ar­ti­fi­cii sui cau­sa unus­quis­que ad­su­mi­tur, ut fa­b­ro­rum cor­pus est et si qua ean­dem ra­tio­nem ori­gi­nis ha­bent, id est id­cir­co in­sti­tu­ta sunt, ut ne­ces­sa­riam ope­ram pu­bli­cis uti­li­ta­ti­bus ex­hi­be­rent. nec om­ni­bus pro­mis­cue, qui ad­sump­ti sunt in his col­le­giis, im­mu­ni­tas da­tur, sed ar­ti­fi­ci­bus dum­ta­xat. nec ab om­ni ae­ta­te al­le­gi pos­sunt, ut di­vo Pio pla­cuit, qui re­pro­ba­vit proli­xae vel in­be­cil­lae ad­mo­dum ae­ta­tis ho­mi­nes. sed ne qui­dem eos, qui au­geant fa­cul­ta­tes et mu­ne­ra ci­vi­ta­tium sus­ti­ne­re pos­sunt, pri­vi­le­giis, quae te­nuio­ri­bus per col­le­gia dis­tri­bu­tis con­ces­sa sunt, uti pos­se plu­ri­fa­riam con­sti­tu­tum est. 13Eos, qui in cor­po­ri­bus al­lec­ti sunt, quae im­mu­ni­ta­tem prae­bent na­vi­cu­la­rio­rum, si ho­no­rem de­cu­rio­na­tus ad­gno­ve­rint, com­pel­len­dos sub­ire pu­bli­ca mu­ne­ra ac­ce­pi: id­que et­iam con­fir­ma­tum vi­de­tur re­scrip­to di­vi Per­ti­na­cis.

6Callistratus, On Judicial Inquiries, Book I. Old age has always been greatly venerated in our City. For our ancestors treated old men with almost the same reverence as magistrates, and the same honor was granted to old age with reference to municipal obligations which were required to be performed. Anyone, however, who became rich in his old age, and had not previously exercised the functions of any public employment, cannot be said to be exempt from such a charge by the privilege of his years, and especially if the administration of the office imposed upon him does not require corporeal exertion as much as the payment of money, because it is not easy to find men enough properly qualified in the City to discharge public duties. 1It is also necessary to take into consideration the custom of every place, and see whether any immunities are expressly granted, and also whether anything is mentioned with reference to the number of years required to obtain them. This can also be ascertained from the Rescripts of the Divine Pius, which he sent to Ennius, Proconsul of the Province of Africa. 2It is clearly and plainly stated, according to Rescripts of the Divine Ælius Pertinax, that the number of children affords a valid excuse from municipal employments; for he stated the following in a Rescript addressed to Julius Candidus: “Although the number of children does not exempt a father from all public employments, still because you have notified me in your petition that you have sixteen, it is not unreasonable for us to grant you exemption from public office, to enable you to bring up your children.” 3Traders, who assist in furnishing provisions to a city, as well as sailors who also provide for its necessities, will obtain exemption from public office, as long as they continue to do this; for it very properly has been decided that the risks which they incur should be suitably recompensed, so that those who perform such public duties outside of their own country with risk and labor should be exempt from annoyances and expenses at home; as it may not incorrectly be said that even they are absent on business for the government when they are employed in collecting provisions for a city. 4A certain specific character is given to the immunity bestowed upon the owners of vessels, which immunity they alone are entitled to; for it is not conferred either upon their children or their freedmen. This is set forth in the Imperial Constitutions. 5The Divine Hadrian stated in a Rescript that only those ship owners should be entitled to immunity who provided subsistence for the City. 6Although anyone may belong to the association of ship owners, if he has neither a ship nor vessels, nor anything else which is provided for by the Imperial Constitutions, he cannot avail himself of the privilege granted to ship owners; and the Divine Brothers stated the following in a Rescript: “Where there are any persons who claim that they are immune from public employments, under the pretext of transporting grain and oil by sea, for the benefit of the Roman people, and they are not engaged in maritime traffic, and have not the greater portion of their property invested in maritime business and commodities, they shall be deprived of the immunity which they enjoy.” 7It must be said with reference to the. following exemptions that where anyone was called to municipal employments before he engaged in commerce, and before he was admitted to an association formed by those engaged in the same pursuit (for the reason that he obtained immunity), whether before he became seventy years of age and publicly stated the fact, or had the requisite number of children, he should be compelled to assume the duties of the office to which he was appointed. 8Maritime commerce is prosecuted for the purpose of increasing one’s property, otherwise, if anyone should carry it on with the greater part of his money, and he, having become still more wealthy, should continue to transact the same volume of business, he will be liable to public service, just as wealthy persons who having purchased ships for a small sum attempt to evade the duties of municipal office. It is stated in a Rescript of the Divine Hadrian that this rule should be observed. 9The Divine Pius stated in a Rescript that, whenever a question arose as to whether anyone belonged to the association of ship owners, it should be ascertained whether he had assumed the character of one for the purpose of avoiding public employment. 10Farmers of the revenue, also, are not reduced to the necessity of exercising municipal employments. The Divine Brothers stated in a Rescript that this rule should be observed. From this Imperial Rescript it can be understood that it is not granted as a privilege to farmers of the revenue, that they should not be compelled to exercise municipal employments; but to prevent their property, which is already bound to the Treasury, from being subjected to further liability. Wherefore, it may be doubted if they should voluntarily offer to accept public office, whether they should be prevented from doing so by the Governor of the province, or by the Manager of the Imperial Revenues. The latter opinion is the more easy to maintain, unless they are said to be ready to settle their accounts with the Treasury. 11Farmers of the Imperial demesnes are exempt from municipal employments in order that they may be better adapted to the cultivation of the land belonging to the Treasury. 12Immunity is conceded to certain associations or corporate bodies, to which the right of assembly has been granted by law; that is to say, to associations or corporate bodies to which each person is admitted on account of his occupation, as, for instance, the Society of Artisans, provided they have the same origin; for instance, if they have been organized in order to perform labor necessary for the public welfare. Immunity is not indiscriminately granted to all those who are admitted to these associations, but only to artisans, for it was decided by the Divine Pius that persons of every age could not be chosen; and he disapproved of the admission of those of an advanced or decrepit age. And, in order that individuals who had become wealthy might not avoid the responsibility attaching to civil office, it was decided in many places that persons could avail themselves of the privileges which had been granted by such associations to anyone in reduced circumstances. 13I have been informed that when persons who have been elected to membership in corporate bodies, which afford immunity to their members, as, for instance, that of ship owners, obtain the honor of the decurionate, they should be compelled to exercise public employments. This seems to be confirmed by a Rescript of the Divine Pertinax.

7Tar­run­te­nus Pa­ter­nus li­bro pri­mo mi­li­ta­rium. Qui­bus­dam ali­quam va­ca­tio­nem mu­ne­rum gra­vio­rum con­di­cio tri­buit, ut sunt men­so­res, op­tio va­le­tu­di­na­rii, me­di­ci, cap­sa­rii, et ar­ti­fi­ces et qui fos­sam fa­ciunt, ve­te­ri­na­rii, ar­chi­tec­tus, gu­ber­na­to­res, nau­pe­gi, bal­lis­tra­rii, spe­cu­la­rii, fa­b­ri, sa­git­ta­rii, ae­ra­rii, bu­cu­la­rum struc­to­res, car­pen­ta­rii, scan­du­la­rii, gla­dia­to­res, aqui­li­ces, tu­ba­rii, cor­nua­rii, ar­cua­rii, plum­ba­rii, fer­ra­rii, la­pi­da­rii, et hi qui cal­cem co­cunt, et qui sil­vam in­fin­dunt, qui car­bo­nem cae­dunt ac tor­rent. in eo­dem nu­me­ro ha­be­ri so­lent la­ni, ve­na­to­res, vic­ti­ma­rii, et op­tio fa­b­ri­cae, et qui ae­gris prae­sto sunt, li­bra­rii quo­que qui do­ce­re pos­sint, et hor­reo­rum li­bra­rii, et li­bra­rii de­po­si­to­rum, et li­bra­rii ca­du­co­rum, et ad­iu­to­res cor­ni­cu­la­rio­rum, et stra­to­res, et pol­lio­nes, et cus­to­des ar­mo­rum, et prae­co, et bu­ci­na­tor. hi igi­tur om­nes in­ter im­mu­nes ha­ben­tur.

7Taruntenus Paternus, Military Affairs, Book I. The condition of certain persons affords them exemption from more onerous employments, as, for instance, measurers of grain and their assistants, chronic invalids, physicians, slaves who carry the books of scholars, artisans, laborers who dig ditches, veterinaries, architects, pilots, ship carpenters, makers of ballistas, makers of glass, mechanics, manufacturers of arrows, workers in bronze, chariot-builders, tile-makers, gladiators, makers of pipes, trumpet makers, makers of musical instruments, makers of bows, workers in lead and iron, lapidaries, burners of lime, wood cutters and charcoal burners. Under the same category are also included butchers, hunters, those who deal in animals for sacrifice, the assistants of factory superintendents, those who attend the sick, weighers, not only those in warehouses and depositories, but also such as are charged with the distribution of supplies to the army, aids of military tribunes, couriers, the guards of arms, common criers, and trumpeters. All these persons are considered to be exempt from public office.