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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.7.10.pr

Enforceability of Pacts Freeing Slaves upon Buyer's Death

Passage 2763 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses the legal effect of a pact added to the sale of slaves stipulating their freedom after the buyer's death. Hadrian's negative response is contrasted with a ruling by Marcus Aurelius recognizing their freedom.

[SCAEUOLA libro septimo digestorum. ] §18.7.10.prCum uenderet Pamphilam et Stichum, uenditioni inseruit pactum conuentum, uti ne eadem mancipia Pamphila et Stichus, quos minorato pretio uendidit, alterius seruitutem quam Seii paterentur post mortemque eius in libertate morarentur: quaesitum est, an haec mancipia, de quibus inter emptorem et uenditorem conuenit, post mortem emptoris iure ipso liberata sint.
[SCAEUOLA in the seventh book of the Digests.] When he sold Pamphila and Stichus, he inserted into the sale an agreed pact that the same slaves Pamphila and Stichus, whom he sold at a reduced price, should not suffer the servitude of anyone other than Seius, and after his death should remain in freedom. The question was asked whether these slaves, concerning whom it was agreed between the buyer and the seller, were liberated by operation of law after the death of the buyer.
respondit secundum constitutionem diui Hadriani super hoc prolatam Pamphilam et Stichum, de quibus quaereretur, si manumissi non sint, liberos non esse.
He answered that, according to the constitution of the divine Hadrian issued on this matter, Pamphila and Stichus, who were the subject of the inquiry, were not free if they had not been manumitted.
CLAUDIUS: Diuus Marcus ex lege dicta libertatis in uendendo quamuis non manumissos fore liberos in semenstribus constituit, licet in mortis tempus emptoris distulit uenditor libertatem.
CLAUDIUS: The divine Marcus, on the basis of a condition of freedom declared in a sale, decided in his Semestria that they would be free although they had not been manumitted, even if the seller postponed the freedom to the time of the buyer's death.

Notes

  1. §18.7.10.pralterius seruitutem quam Seii — The word quam expresses exclusion ('other than'), and the genitive Seii is coordinated with the genitive alterius. The phrase means 'the servitude of anyone other than Seius'.
  2. §18.7.10.prfore — This is part of the accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction governed by constituit. The word fore is an alternative form of futuros esse (future infinitive), referring to the slaves as its subject: 'that they would be free'.
  3. §18.7.10.prlicet ... distulit — The concessive conjunction licet is used here with the indicative perfect distulit. Although classical usage typically requires the subjunctive, the indicative is used here to express concession ('although the seller postponed...').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.7.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.7.10.pr

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