Sul valore delle espressioni ‘dicis gratia’ e ‘dicis causa’ nel linguaggio dei giuristi

Auctor de locutionibus ‘dicis gratia’ ac ‘dicis causa’ in iurisperitorum lingua significationem inuestigat. Haec uocabula forsitan propria iurisconsultorum ueteris sermonis sunt (arg. ex Varro de ling. Lat. 6.61). Non est inverisimile quod Gaius (in Gai 1.141, 1.190, 2.103-104, 2.252) illorum uerborum pristinum ualorem resonat.

The A. investigates the meaning of the terms ‘dicis gratia’ and ‘dicis causa’ in the legal sources. Probably these expressions belong to the ancient Roman legal lexicon (arg. ex Varro de ling. Lat. 6.61). In the jurisprudential texts [Gai 1.141, 1.190, 2.103 and 104, 2.252, D. 13.6.4 (Gai. 1 de verb. obl.), 29.5.1.34 (Ulp. 50 ad ed.)] dicis gratia and dicis causa do not occur – according to the reconstruction of the A. – with unique semantic meaning (and, in particular, purely and simply in the sense of ‘pro forma’). In the Institutes of Gaius it is possible to trace an echo of their original legal value. Two glosses of the pseudo Philoxenos (corp. glos. Lat. 2.48.42 and 43) retain memory of the polysemy of such terms.