Testatio liberorum ex incerto patre natorum ( Arangio-Ruiz )

TESTATIO LIBERORUM EX INCERTO PATRE NATORUM

Birth certificate of illegitimate twins

( April 29, AD 145 )

( V. Arangio-Ruiz, Fontes iuris Romani antejustiniani, III, Firenze, 1943, pp. 9-11, n. 4 ).

Sempronia Gemella t(utore) a(uctore) C. Iulio | Saturnino testata est eos qui | signaturi erant se enixam esse | ex incerto patre XII Kal. Aprel(es) | q(uae) p(roximae) f(uerunt) natos masculinos ge||minos eosque uocitari MM. | Sempronios Sp. filios Sarapionem | et Socrationem : ideoque se has | testationes interposuisse dixit, | quia lex Aelia Sentia et Papia || Poppaea spurios spuriasue | in albo profiteri uetat. D. E. R. E. E. | B. T. SS. Actum Alex(andreae) ad Aeg(yptum) III Kal. | Maias imp. Caesare T. Aelio Hadriano | Antonino Aug. Pio IIII M. Aurelio || Caesare II co(n)s(ulibus), anno VIII imp. Caesaris | Titi Aeli Hadriani Antonini Aug. | Pii, mense Pachon die IIII. |

[Latin translation of the Greek text : ‘ Sempronia Gemella cum tutore C. Iulio Saturnino testata sum filios duos geminos natos esse ex incerto patre, eosque appellatos esse Marcos Sempronios Spurii filios Sarapionem et Socrationem. C. Iulius Saturninus tutor eius adscripsi et scripsi pro ea litteras ignorante. ’]

Greek text ( Duke Data Bank of Documentary Papyri ).

English translation ( Advanced Papyrological Information System ).

(Scriptio interior, Pages II-III, on wax) Sempronia Gemella, under the guardianship of Gaius Iulius Saturninus, called to witness those who were about to affix their seals, that on the twelfth day before the Kalends of April just past she brought forth twin sons from uncertain father, and that these are named Marcus Sempronius Sarapion and Marcus Sempronius Sokration, the sons of [Spurius] ; and she said that she had employed these written testimonies for this reason, because the Aelian-Sentian and the Papian-Poppaean laws forbid that illegitimate sons and daughters be registered in the public record ; on this matter two (pairs of ?) tablets were written on the same model (?). Dated at Alexandria on the coast of Egypt on the third day before the Kalends of May in the fourth consulship of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius and the second of Marcus Aurelius Caesar, in the eighth year of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, on the fourth day of the month Pachon. ; (Witnesses, Page IV, on wood) ; (Seals of) Marcus Vibius Pollio ; of Marcus Octavius Serenus ; of Lucius Aemilius Maximus ; of Lucius Aponius Saturninus ; of Gaius Aebutius Saturninus ; of Marcus(?) Vibius Eucharistus(?) ; of Marcus Holconius Ampliatus ; (Scriptio exterior, Pages IV and I, on wood) ; Sempronia Gemella, under the guardianship of Gaius Iulius Saturninus, called to witness those who were about to affix their seals, that on the twelfth day before the Kalends of April just past she brought forth twin sons from uncertain father, and that these are named Marcus Sempronius Sarapion and Marcus Sempronius Sokration, the sons of Spurius ; and she said that she had employed these written testimonies for this reason, because the Aelian-Sentian and the Papian-Poppaean laws forbid that illegitimate sons and daughters be registered in the public record ; on this matter two (pairs of ?) tablets were written on the same model (?). Dated at Alexandria on the coast of Egypt on the third day before the Kalends of May in the fourth consulship of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius and the second of Marcus Aurelius Caesar, in the eighth year of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, on the fourth day of the month Pachon. ; (Greek summary, Page I, on wood) ; I, Sempronia Gemella, with my guardian Gaius Iulius Satornilos, gave testimony that twin sons were born from unknown father and that these are named Marcus Sempronius Sarapion and Marcus Sempronius Sokration, the sons of Spurius, as described above. I, Gaius Iulius Satornilos, was appointed her guardian, and I wrote for her since she does not know letters.

► Bibliography

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► Source : Arsinoite diptych found in 1927 ( P. Mich. III, 169 = CPL 162 ).