Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Wandering Rocks/240

thumb|600px|center|page=243 Annotations Coactus volui5(Latin) Having been forced, I was willing.Gifford (1988) 282. The phrase occurs in the Digest, the compendium of Roman law compiled by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. In Digest 4:2:21:5 a judgment of the Roman jurisconsult Paulus is cited: + Digest 4:2:21:5 Digest 4:2:21:5Iustiniani Digesta </noinclude> Si metu coactus adii hereditatem, puto me heredem effici, quia quamvis si liberum esset noluissem, tamen coactus volui If I have been forced by fear to accept a legacy, I judge that I am made a legatee, because, though I would not have been willing had it been freely offered, nevertheless, having been forced, I was willing. From the context it is clear that the meaning of the phrase is: Although I was forced, this does not alter the fact that I was willing. According to Oliver St John Gogarty, Joyce's principal model for Buck Mulligan, Farrell was Classically trained and fond of abstruse Latin quotations;As I Was Going Down Sackville Street St John Gogarty Oliver 1980 Sphere Books Limited London 5–22, 269 but why he makes this remark while frowning at the distant pleasance of duke's lawn is still a mystery. For further discussion, see R. J. Schork, Joyce and Justinian: U 250 and 520 in the James Joyce Quarterly, University of Tulsa, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Fall, 1985), pp. 77–80.Joyce and Justinian: U 250 and 520. References Annotations to James Joyce's UlyssesPreceding Page | Page Index | Next Page