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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.7.3.pr

Automatic Freedom under a Covenant for Manumission

Passage 2756 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is ruled that if a slave sold under the condition of manumission within a certain time is not freed, they become free automatically as long as the seller maintains that intention, without needing the heir's consent.

[PAULUS libro quinquagesimo ad edictum. ] §18.7.3.prSi quis hac lege ueniit, ut intra certum tempus manumittatur: si non sit manumissus, liber fit, si tamen is qui uendidit in eadem uoluntate perseueret: heredis uoluntatem non esse exquirendam.
[PAULUS in the fiftieth book on the Edict.] If anyone has been sold on the condition that he be manumitted within a certain time, and if he has not been manumitted, he becomes free, provided, however, that the person who sold him perseveres in the same intention; the intention of the heir is not to be inquired into.

Notes

  1. §18.7.3.prueniit — Perfect tense (or a spelling variant of the present uenit) of the verb ueneo (to be sold). Although active in form, it functions as the passive of uendo (to sell). Care must be taken not to confuse it with uēnit, the perfect of uenio (to come).
  2. §18.7.3.prheredis uoluntatem non esse exquirendam — An accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction meaning 'the intention of the heir is not to be inquired into'. It functions as a supplementary legal determination or opinion to the main clause 'liber fit', with the governing verb of saying or ruling (such as 'placuit' or 'responsum est') being omitted.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.7.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.7.3.pr

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