Legal Definitions - culpabilis

culpabilis

Culpabilis is a historical Latin term that means guilty. It refers to being found responsible or blameworthy for an offense, a crime, or a wrongful act. In historical legal contexts, a person declared culpabilis was deemed to have committed the act they were accused of.

• Example 1: Ancient Roman Legal Judgment

  Imagine a trial in ancient Rome where a senator is accused of embezzlement. After hearing all the evidence and witness testimonies, the presiding magistrate pronounces the senator culpabilis, meaning he has been found guilty of the financial misconduct.

  This example illustrates culpabilis in its direct legal sense, where a formal judgment declares someone responsible for a crime.

• Example 2: Medieval Community Accountability

  Consider a medieval village where a miller is suspected of tampering with the scales to cheat his customers. While there might not be a formal court as we know it today, the village elders, after investigating and gathering community consensus, might declare the miller culpabilis of deceit, leading to social ostracization or a community-imposed penalty.

  Here, culpabilis signifies being held responsible for a transgression against community standards and trust, even outside a modern judicial system.

• Example 3: Historical Moral Responsibility

  In a historical philosophical text discussing human nature, a writer might describe a character who, despite escaping formal punishment, feels deeply culpabilis for a betrayal of trust committed years ago. This internal feeling of blameworthiness haunts them.

  This example shows culpabilis used in a broader, moral sense, referring to an individual's internal acknowledgment of responsibility or guilt for a past wrong, regardless of external legal judgment.