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. L7,
De legationibus
Liber quinquagesimus
VII.

De legationibus

(Concerning Embassies.)

1Ul­pia­nus li­bro oc­ta­vo ad Mas­su­rium Sa­binum. Le­ga­tus mu­ni­ci­pa­lis si de­se­rue­rit le­ga­tio­nem, poe­na ad­fi­cie­tur ex­tra­or­di­na­ria, mo­tus or­di­ne, ut ple­rum­que so­let.

1Ulpianus, On Massurius Sabinus, Book VIII. When a municipal envoy abandons his office, he is generally subjected to an ordinary penalty, and dismissed from his order.

2Idem li­bro se­cun­do opi­nio­num. Le­ga­tus con­tra rem pu­bli­cam, cu­ius le­ga­tus est, per alium a prin­ci­pe quid pos­tu­la­re pot­est. 1Utrum quis de­se­rue­rit le­ga­tio­nem an ex ne­ces­sa­ria cau­sa mo­ram pas­sus sit, or­di­ni pa­triae suae pro­ba­re de­bet. 2Ces­sa­tio unius le­ga­ti ei, qui mu­nus ut opor­tet ob­iit, non no­cet.

2The Same, Opinions, Book II. An envoy appointed to proceed against a municipality can present his claim to the Emperor through another. 1When an envoy abandons his charge, or delays results for some good reason, he must prove this fact before the Order of the town where he resides. 2The neglect of an envoy to perform his duty does not prejudice his colleague.

3Idem ex eo­dem li­bro. His, qui non gra­tui­tam le­ga­tio­nem sus­ce­pe­runt, le­ga­ti­vum ex for­ma re­sti­tua­tur.

3The Same, In The Same Book. Salaries, in proportion to their rank, are paid to envoys who do not undertake their mission gratuitously.

4Afri­ca­nus li­bro ter­tio quaes­tio­num. Cum quae­ri­tur, an in eum, qui in le­ga­tio­ne sit, ac­tio da­ri de­beat, non tam in­ter­est, ubi quis aut cre­di­de­rit aut da­ri sti­pu­la­tus sit, quam il­lud, an id ac­tum sit, ut le­ga­tio­nis tem­po­re sol­ve­re­tur.

4Africanus, Questions, Book III. When the question is asked whether an action should be granted against a person who is the member of a embassy, it is not so important to ascertain where the claimant either lent him money, or stipulated that something should be given, as to know where suit can be brought, so that payment may be made during the time of his mission.

5Mar­cia­nus li­bro duo­de­ci­mo in­sti­tu­tio­num. Scien­dum est de­bi­to­rem rei pu­bli­cae le­ga­tio­ne fun­gi non pos­se: et ita di­vus Pius Clau­dio Sa­tur­ni­no et Faus­ti­no re­scrip­sit. 1Sed et eos, qui­bus ius pos­tu­lan­di non est, le­ga­tio­ne fun­gi non pos­se et id­eo ha­re­na mis­sum non iu­re le­ga­tum es­se mis­sum di­vi Se­ve­rus et An­to­ni­nus re­scrip­se­runt. 2De­bi­to­res au­tem fis­ci non pro­hi­ben­tur le­ga­tio­ne fun­gi. 3Si ac­cu­sa­tio ali­cu­ius pu­bli­ce in­sti­tu­ta sit, non est com­pel­len­dus ac­cu­sa­tor ad eum le­ga­tio­nem sus­ci­pe­re, qui se ami­cum vel do­mes­ti­cum di­cit eius, qui ac­cu­sa­tur: et ita di­vi fra­tres Ae­mi­lio Ru­fo re­scrip­se­runt. 4Le­ga­ti vi­ca­rios da­re non alios pos­sunt ni­si fi­lios suos. 5Or­di­ne unus­quis­que mu­ne­re le­ga­tio­nis fun­gi co­gi­tur: et non alias com­pel­len­dus est mu­ne­re le­ga­tio­nis fun­gi, quam si prio­res, qui in cu­riam lec­ti sunt, func­ti sint. sed si le­ga­tio de pri­mo­ri­bus vi­ris de­si­de­ret per­so­nas et qui or­di­ne vo­can­tur in­fe­rio­res sint, non es­se ob­ser­van­dum or­di­nem di­vus Ha­d­ria­nus ad Cla­zo­me­nios re­scrip­sit. 6Prae­ci­pi­tur au­tem edic­to di­vi Ves­pa­sia­ni om­ni­bus ci­vi­ta­ti­bus, ne plu­res quam ter­nos le­ga­tos mit­tant.

5Marcianus, Institutes, Book XII. It should be noted that a debtor to the government cannot perform the duties devolving on an embassy. This the Divine Pius stated in a Rescript addressed to Claudius Saturninus and Faustinus. 1Persons who have not the right to prosecute cannot exercise the function of an envoy; and the Divine Severus and Antoninus stated in a Rescript that anyone who had been appointed to contend in the arena could not legally be one. 2Debtors of the Treasury, however, are not forbidden to perform the duties of an envoy. 3Where a charge has been publicly brought against anyone the accuser should not be compelled to undertake the duties of an envoy to one who alleges that he is a friend, or belongs to the family of the accused party. This was stated by the Divine Brothers in a Rescript to Æmilius Rufus. 4Envoys cannot appoint others their substitutes, with the exception of their sons. 5Everyone is compelled to perform the functions of an envoy in his turn, but is not obliged to do so until those who have been chosen before him in an assembly have performed theirs. If, however, the embassy requires men of the first rank, and those who are called in their order are of inferior degree, the regular order should not be observed, as the Divine Hadrian stated in a Rescript addressed to the Clazomenians. 6It is provided by an Edict of the Divine Vespasian addressed to all cities that one municipality shall not send more than three envoys.

6Scae­vo­la li­bro pri­mo re­gu­la­rum. Le­ga­to tem­pus prod­est, ex quo le­ga­tus crea­tus est, non ex quo Ro­mam venit. 1Sed si non con­stat, le­ga­tus sit an non, Ro­mae prae­tor de hoc co­gnos­cit.

6Scævola, Rules, Book I. The time which may profit an envoy dates from his appointment, and not from the day when he arrives at Rome. 1But if it is not satisfactorily established whether he is an envoy or not, the Prætor of Rome shall investigate the matter.

7Ul­pia­nus li­bro quar­to de of­fi­cio pro­con­su­lis. Fi­lio prop­ter pa­trem le­ga­tio­nis va­ca­tio ne con­ce­da­tur, im­pe­ra­tor nos­ter cum pa­tre Clau­dio Cal­lis­to re­scrip­sit in haec ver­ba: ‘Quod de­si­de­ras, ut prop­ter le­ga­tio­nem pa­tris tui a le­ga­tio­ne tu va­ces, in in­ter­val­lis ho­no­rum, qui sump­tum ha­bent, rec­te ob­ser­va­tur: in im­pen­diis le­ga­tio­num, quae so­lo mi­nis­te­rio ob­eun­tur, di­ver­sa cau­sa est’.

7Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IV. Exemption from serving as an envoy is not granted to a son on account of the service of his father as one, as our Emperor, with his Father, stated to Claudius Callistus, as follows: “You petition to be exempted from acting as an envoy on account of the service of your father, but this can properly take place only so far as an office which requires the payment of expense is concerned; the rule, however, is different with reference to the expenses of an embassy which demands the service of a single person.”

8Pa­pi­nia­nus li­bro pri­mo re­spon­so­rum. Fi­lius de­cu­rio pro pa­tre le­ga­tio­nis of­fi­cium sus­ce­pit. ea res fi­lium, quo mi­nus or­di­ne suo le­ga­tus pro­fi­cis­ca­tur, non ex­cu­sat: pa­ter ta­men bi­en­nii va­ca­tio­nem vin­di­ca­re pot­erit, quia per fi­lium le­ga­tio­ne func­tus vi­de­tur.

8Papinianus, Opinions, Book I. A son, who was a decurion, assumed the duties of a envoy in behalf of his father. This will not excuse him from another embassy, unless he has already departed; the father, however, can claim exemption for two years, for the reason that he is considered to have discharged the duties of his mission by his son.

9Pau­lus li­bro pri­mo re­spon­so­rum. Re­spon­dit eum, qui le­ga­tio­ne func­tus est, in­tra tem­po­ra va­ca­tio­nis prae­fi­ni­ta non opor­te­re com­pel­li rur­sum ad de­fen­den­dum pu­bli­cum neg­otium, et­iam­si de ea­dem cau­sa li­ti­ge­tur. 1‘Im­pe­ra­to­res An­to­ni­nus et Se­ve­rus Au­gus­ti Ger­ma­no Sil­va­no. le­ga­tio­ne func­tis bi­en­nii va­ca­tio con­ce­di­tur: nec in­ter­est, utrum le­ga­tio in ur­be an in pro­vin­cia agen­ti­bus no­bis man­da­ta sit’. 2Pau­lus re­spon­dit eum, qui le­ga­tio­ne fun­gi­tur, ne­que alie­nis ne­que pro­priis neg­otiis se in­ter­po­ne­re de­be­re. in qua cau­sa non vi­de­ri eum quo­que con­ti­ne­ri, qui cum ami­co suo prae­to­re gra­tis con­si­lium par­ti­ci­pat.

9Paulus, Rules, Book I. Paulus gave it as his opinion that when anyone has once performed the duties of an envoy he cannot, during the time prescribed for exemption, be compelled to again undertake the defence of any public case, even if the same question was in controversy. 1“The Emperors Antoninus and Severus to Germanus Silvanus: An exemption for the term of two years is granted to persons who have discharged the duties of envoy, and it makes no difference whether the embassy was despatched to us at Rome or in a province.” 2Paulus held that anyone who performed the functions of an envoy should not attend to his own affairs nor to those of others; but anyone who gratuitously gives his advice to a Prætor, who is his friend, is not considered in this instance to violate this rule.

10Idem li­bro ter­tio re­spon­so­rum. Pau­lus re­spon­dit de eo dam­no, quod le­ga­tio­nis tem­po­re le­ga­tus pas­sus est, pos­se eum et­iam le­ga­tio­nis tem­po­re ex­per­i­ri.

10The Same, Opinions, Book III. Paulus gave it as his opinion that where an envoy sustained any damage during the term of his service he could, even during that time, bring an action.

11Idem li­bro pri­mo sen­ten­tia­rum. Le­ga­tus an­te­quam of­fi­cio le­ga­tio­nis func­tus sit, in rem suam ni­hil age­re pot­est, ex­cep­tis his quae ad in­iu­riam eius vel dam­num pa­ra­ta sunt. 1Si quis in mu­ne­re le­ga­tio­nis, an­te­quam ad pa­triam re­ver­te­tur, de­ces­sit, sump­tus, qui pro­fi­cis­cen­ti sunt da­ti, non re­sti­tuun­tur.

11The Same, Sentences, Book I. An envoy cannot bring an action relating to his own property before he has performed his official duties, except in those cases which relate to the reparation of injury or the payment of damages. 1When anyone dies during his service as envoy, and before he returns to his home, the expenses which have been advanced to him at the time of his departure shall not be returned.

12Idem li­bro sin­gu­la­ri de iu­re li­bel­lo­rum. Si ab­sen­ti in­iunc­ta est le­ga­tio eam­que gra­tui­tam sus­ce­pit, pot­est quis et per alium le­ga­tio­nem mit­te­re. 1Qui le­ga­tio­nis of­fi­cio fun­gi­tur, li­cet suum neg­otium cu­ra­re non pot­est, mag­nus ta­men An­to­ni­nus per­mi­sit ei pu­pil­lae no­mi­ne et in­strue­re et de­fen­de­re cau­sam, li­cet le­ga­tio­ni, quam sus­ce­pit, non­dum re­nun­tia­ve­rit, prae­ci­pue cum par­ti­ci­pem of­fi­cii ip­sius ab­sen­tem es­se di­ce­bat.

12The Same, On the Right of Petition. Where anyone is appointed an envoy during his absence, and voluntarily accepts the office, he can send another to discharge its duties in his place. 1Although anyone who performs the duties of an envoy cannot transact his own business, still, the Great Antoninus permitted him to prosecute and defend cases in the name of a female ward; although he had not yet attended to the affairs of the embassy which he had undertaken, and especially when he alleged that the guardian for whom he acted was absent.

13Scae­vo­la li­bro pri­mo di­ges­to­rum. Le­ga­tus crea­tus a pa­tria sua sus­cep­ta le­ga­tio­ne in ur­bem Ro­mam venit et non­dum per­fec­ta le­ga­tio­ne do­mum, quae erat in ip­sius ci­vi­ta­te ni­co­po­li, emit. quae­si­tum est, an in se­na­tus con­sul­tum in­ci­de­rit, quo pro­hi­ben­tur le­ga­ti an­te per­fec­tam le­ga­tio­nem neg­otiis vel pri­va­tis re­bus ob­strin­gi. re­spon­dit non vi­de­ri te­ne­ri.

13Scævola, Digest, Book I. An envoy who was appointed by his native town, having accepted the office, came to Rome; and, before he had discharged his duties, purchased a house in Nicopolis, his own city. The question arose whether he was liable to the Decree of the Senate by which an envoy is prohibited from attending to his private business or affairs before the duties of his office have been performed. The answer was that he did not appear to be liable.

14Pa­pi­nia­nus li­bro pri­mo re­spon­so­rum. Vi­ca­rius alie­ni mu­ne­ris vo­lun­ta­te sua da­tus or­di­ne suo le­ga­tio­nem sus­ci­pe­re non ad­mis­sa bi­en­nii prae­scrip­tio­ne co­ge­tur.

14Papinianus, Opinions, Book I. A substitute, appointed with his own consent to discharge the duties of another, is not entitled to the privilege of exemption for two years, and is compelled to accept the office of envoy.

15Ul­pia­nus li­bro sep­tua­gen­si­mo quar­to ad edic­tum prae­to­ris. Qui li­be­ra le­ga­tio­ne ab­est, non vi­de­tur rei pu­bli­cae cau­sa ab­es­se: hic enim non pu­bli­ci com­mo­di cau­sa, sed sui ab­est.

15Ulpianus, On the Edict of the Prætor, Book LXXIV. Anyone who is still absent, after having exercised the functions of an envoy, and been discharged, is not considered to be away on business for the State, for he is not absent for the public benefit, but for his own.

16Mo­des­ti­nus li­bro sep­ti­mo re­gu­la­rum. Is, qui le­ga­tio­ne fun­gi­tur, li­bel­lum si­ne per­mis­su prin­ci­pis de aliis suis neg­otiis da­re non pot­est.

16Modestinus, Rules, Book VII. Anyone who performs the duties of an envoy cannot present a petition relating to his own affairs, or those of others, without permission of the Emperor.

17Idem li­bro oc­ta­vo re­gu­la­rum. Eun­dem plu­res le­ga­tio­nes sus­ci­pe­re pro­hi­bi­tum non est prae­ter­ea, si et sump­tus et iti­ne­ris com­pen­dium sua­deat. 1An­te le­ga­tio­nem sus­cep­tam si cui neg­otium mo­vea­tur, et­iam ab­sens de­fen­di de­bet: sus­cep­ta le­ga­tio­ne non ni­si in­iunc­to mu­ne­re fun­ga­tur.

17The Same, Rules, Book VIII. The same person is not forbidden to undertake several embassies; above all, where he pays his travelling expenses himself. 1Where suit has been brought against anyone before he assumed the duties of an envoy, he ought to defend it, even if he is absent, but where he has once undertaken such duties, he is not required to do so, unless in the performance of his official functions.

18Pom­po­nius li­bro tri­gen­si­mo sep­ti­mo ad Quin­tum Mu­cium. Si quis le­ga­tum hos­tium pul­sas­set, con­tra ius gen­tium id com­mis­sum es­se ex­is­ti­ma­tur, quia sanc­ti ha­ben­tur le­ga­ti. et id­eo si, cum le­ga­ti apud nos es­sent gen­tis ali­cu­ius, bel­lum cum eis in­dic­tum sit, re­spon­sum est li­be­ros eos ma­ne­re: id enim iu­ri gen­tium con­ve­nit es­se. ita­que eum, qui le­ga­tum pul­sas­set, Quin­tus Mu­cius de­di hos­ti­bus, quo­rum erant le­ga­ti, so­li­tus est re­spon­de­re. quem hos­tes si non re­ce­pis­sent, quae­si­tum est, an ci­vis Ro­ma­nus ma­ne­ret: qui­bus­dam ex­is­ti­man­ti­bus ma­ne­re, aliis con­tra, quia quem se­mel po­pu­lus ius­sis­set de­di, ex ci­vi­ta­te ex­pul­sis­se vi­de­re­tur, sic­ut fa­ce­ret, cum aqua et ig­ni in­ter­di­ce­ret. in qua sen­ten­tia vi­de­tur Pu­blius Mu­cius fuis­se. id au­tem ma­xi­me quae­si­tum est in Hos­ti­lio Man­ci­no, quem Nu­man­ti­ni si­bi de­di­tum non ac­ce­pe­runt: de quo ta­men lex post­ea la­ta est, ut es­set ci­vis Ro­ma­nus, et prae­tu­ram quo­que ges­sis­se di­ci­tur.

18Pomponius, On Quintus Mucius, Book XXXVII. When anyone strikes the envoy of our enemy, he is considered to be guilty of an act against the Law of Nations, because envoys are considered sacred. Therefore, if any ambassadors of a nation with whom we are at war are with us, it has been established that they are free to remain; for this is in conformity with the Law of Nations. Hence, Quintus Mucius held that anyone who struck an ambassador is usually surrendered to the enemy of whom he was the representative. The question arose, if the enemy did not receive the offender when he was sent to them, whether he would remain a Roman citizen. Some authorities think that he would remain such, and others are of the contrary opinion, because where a people have once ordered anyone to be surrendered he is considered to have been deprived of citizenship, just as is the case where anyone is forbidden fire and water. It seems that Publius Mucius was also of this opinion. This question was thoroughly discussed in the case of Hostilius Mancinus, whom the Numantians would not receive when he was surrendered to them; and, on this account, a law was subsequently enacted to enable him to remain a Roman citizen, and he is said to have even held the office of Prætor.