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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §11.4.2.pr

Harsher Penalties for Runaways Posing as Free Persons

Passage 1789 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains the distinction in the treatment of runaway slaves, stating that those who merely ran away are to be returned, while those who passed themselves off as free persons are punished more severely.

[CALLISTRATUS libro sexto cognitionum. ] §11.4.2.prFugitiui simplices dominis reddendi sunt: sed si pro libero se gesserint, grauius coerceri solent.
[CALLISTRATUS, from the sixth book on extraordinary proceedings.] Simple runaway slaves ought to be restored to their masters; but if they have conducted themselves as free persons, they are customarily punished more severely.

Notes

  1. §11.4.2.prsimplices — Nominative masculine plural of the adjective `simplex` ('simple'). Here, it refers to slaves who have merely run away, without committing any other aggravating offenses such as fraud or theft.
  2. §11.4.2.prpro libero se gesserint — An idiomatic expression consisting of `se gerere` (with a reflexive pronoun) followed by the preposition `pro` ('as', 'in the capacity of') and an ablative noun (here `liber`, 'free person'), meaning 'to conduct oneself as' or 'to pass oneself off as'. It refers to a situation where a slave did not merely flee from their master but actively lived in society pretending to be a free citizen.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §11.4.2.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:11.4.2.pr

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