Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.11.7.pr

Exceptions in Promises to Present Slaves or Dependents

Passage 334 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the availability of exceptions when promising to present a slave or dependent in court, explaining that while the exception of absence on public business cannot apply to a slave, other common exceptions apply equally as in the case of free persons.

[PAULUS libro sexagensimo nono ad edictum. ] §2.11.7.prSi quis seruum in iudicio sisti promiserit uel alium qui in aliena potestate est, isdem exceptionibus utitur, quibus si pro libero uel patre familias fideiussit, praeterquam si rei publicae causa abesse diceretur seruus: nam seruus rei publicae causa abesse non potest.
[PAULUS, in the sixty-ninth book on the Edict.] If anyone has promised that a slave be presented in court, or another who is under the power of another, he can avail himself of the same exceptions as if he had guaranteed for a free man or a paterfamilias, except if the slave were said to be absent on public business; for a slave cannot be absent on public business.
praeter hanc autem exceptionem ceterae, quia communes sunt, tam in libero homine quam in seruo locum habent.
But besides this exception, the others, because they are common, apply as well in the case of a free man as in that of a slave.

Notes

  1. §2.11.7.prsisti — Present passive infinitive of the transitive verb `sisto` (to present, cause to appear). The phrase `seruum... sisti` forms an accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) construction acting as the object of `promiserit` ("promised that a slave be presented").
  2. §2.11.7.prquibus si — The relative pronoun `quibus` refers to the antecedent `exceptionibus` and is in the ablative case, governed by the omitted verb `utitur` (or by attraction). Together with the conditional clause `si...`, it forms an elliptical comparative conditional structure: "with the same exceptions [which he would use] if he had guaranteed for...".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.11.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.11.7.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.