INFĀMĬA, was a consequence of condemnation for certain crimes,
and also a direct consequence of certain acts, such as adultery,
prostitution, appearing on the public stage as an actor, &c. A
person who became _infamis_ lost the suffragium and honores, and
was degraded to the condition of an aerarian. Infamia should be
distinguished from the _Nota Censoria_, the consequence of which was
only _ignominia_. [CENSOR.]
INFANS, INFANTIA. In the Roman law there were several distinctions of
age which were made with reference to the capacity for doing legal
acts:--1. The first period was from birth to the end of the seventh
year, during which time persons were called _Infantes_, or _Qui fari
non possunt_. 2. The second period was from the end of seven years
to the end of fourteen or twelve years, according as the person was
a male or a female, during which persons were defined as those _Qui
fari possunt_. The persons included in these first two classes were
_Impuberes_. 3. The third period was from the end of the twelfth or
fourteenth to the end of the twenty-fifth year, during which period
persons were _Adolescentes_, _Adulti_. The persons included in these
three classes were minores xxv annis or annorum, and were often,
for brevity’s sake, called minores only [CURATOR]; and the persons
included in the third and fourth class were _Puberes_. 4. The fourth
period was from the age of twenty-five, during which persons were
_Majores_.