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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.5.15.pr

Fulfillment of Manumission by Childbirth and Children's Status

Passage 79 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In the case of the slave Arescusa, who was to be freed upon giving birth to three children and gave birth to triplets in her second delivery, it is discussed that the last-born child is born free because the condition was fulfilled during the birthing process.

[TRYPHONINUS libro decimo disputationum. ] §1.5.15.prArescusa, si tres pepererit libera esse testamento iussa, primo partu unum, secundo tres peperit: quaesitum est, an et quis eorum liber esset.
[TRYPHONINUS, in the tenth book of Discussions.] Arescusa, who was ordered by a will to be free if she should give birth to three children, gave birth to one in her first delivery, and to three in her second. The question was raised whether any of them, and which of them, was free.
haec condicio libertati adposita iam implenda mulieri est.
This condition attached to her freedom must now be fulfilled by the woman.
sed non dubitari debet, quin ultimus liber nascatur: nec enim natura permisit simul uno impetu duos infantes de utero matris excedere, ut ordine incerto nascentium non appareat, uter in seruitute libertateue nascatur.
But it ought not to be doubted that the last child is born free: for nature has not permitted two infants to emerge from the mother's womb simultaneously in a single impulse, so that, because of an uncertain order of birth, it would not appear which of them is born into slavery or into freedom.
incipiente igitur partu existens condicio efficit, ut ex libera edatur quod postea nascitur, ueluti si quaelibet alia condicio libertati mulieris adposita parturiente ea existat.
Therefore, the fulfillment of the condition while childbirth is beginning has the effect that what is born afterwards is brought forth from a free woman, just as if any other condition attached to the woman's freedom should be fulfilled while she is giving birth.
uel manumissa sub hac condicione, si decem milia heredi Titioue dederit, eo momento quo parit per alium impleuerit condicionem: iam libera peperisse credenda est.
Or, if she was manumitted under this condition, "if she should give ten thousand sesterces to the heir or to Titius," and at the very moment she gives birth, she has fulfilled the condition through another person, she must be believed to have given birth as an already free woman.

Notes

  1. §1.5.15.prArescusa, si tres pepererit libera esse testamento iussa — The nominative Arescusa stands in anacoluthon, serving as a topic of the sentence, while the main clause resolves into an impersonal passive (quaesitum est). Libera esse iussa modifies Arescusa.
  2. §1.5.15.primplenda mulieri est — The dative mulieri with the gerundive implenda is a dative of agent, indicating that the condition is to be fulfilled by the woman.
  3. §1.5.15.prut ordine incerto nascentium non appareat — This is a consecutive clause containing a negative (ut ... non), depending on the preceding negative permission (nec ... permisit). Through this double-negative logic, it emphasizes that a situation where the order is uncertain cannot actually occur.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.5.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.5.15.pr

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