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University of Bologna
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Grazia REGGIO, University of Bologna
Relative Clauses in Juridical Latin:
Alfenus Varus and Iavolenus
The relative clauses are actually the most frequent kind of proposition in Alfenus Varus and Iavolenus. They are also strictly connected with the use of demonstrative and determinative pronouns as is, ea, id. The latter occurs particularly in Alfenus Varus' Digesta, whereas Iavolenus' works show a sensible increase of the demonstrative ille, illa, illud. This is probably connected with the deictic nature of these pronouns and with the next development of romance article (on the contrary the deictic force of determinative pronoun is, ea, id is not so remarkable). Finally we can observe that relative clauses in Alfenus Varus' responsa are sometimes characterized by the anticipation of the relative pronoun. This is typical of arcaic latin and of the language of law (as the XII Tables clearly demonstrate). However the most interesting difference beetween the two authors concerns the use of moods and tenses. The first shows, indeed, to prefer imperfect and plusperfect subjunctive, that seems to mark eventuality and opacity. Subjunctive mood is more frequent in the second part of the responsum where the jurist expresses his own opinion, whereas the exposition of the particular case often presents relative clauses with indicative mood. This subjunctive of possibility in relative clauses can also be justified by the relative morphological origin. The indoeuropean roots *kwi-/kwo, *io-, *so- are the same of relative pronouns, determinative pronoun is, ea, id < *io- and of the hypothetical particle si. On the other hand Iavolenus' work shows a high percentage of imperfect, perfect and plusperfect indicative. This can be connected with a typical tendency of the period (we indeed can find the same phenomenon in other authors like Apuleius, Gellius and Fronto), but also with the new rôle of jurists in this century. Their attendance to the consilium principis gave them a great prestige and a higher auctoritas, so that their opinions in juridical cases had a new force more similar to that of law.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.