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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.2.51.pr-23.2.51.1

Restrictions on Marrying a Woman Manumitted for Marriage

Passage 3357 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text states the restriction on who can marry a female slave manumitted for the purpose of marriage, and defines the rules when a son in power manumits such a slave by his father's order.

[LICINNIUS RUFINUS libro primo regularum. ] §23.2.51.prMatrimonii causa ancilla manumissa a nullo alio uxor duci potest quam a quo manumissa est, nisi patronus matrimonio eius renuntiauerit.
[LICINNIUS RUFINUS, in his first book of Rules.] A female slave manumitted for the purpose of marriage cannot be taken as a wife by anyone other than the person by whom she was manumitted, unless her patron has renounced her marriage.
§23.2.51.1Si autem filius familias matrimonii causa iussu patris ancillam manumiserit, Iulianus putat perinde eam haberi atque si a patre eius manumissa esset: et ideo potest eam uxorem ducere.
If, however, a son in power (filius familias) has manumitted a female slave for the purpose of marriage by order of his father, Julian thinks that she is to be treated just as if she had been manumitted by his father; and therefore he can take her as his wife.

Notes

  1. §23.2.51.pra quo manumissa est — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quo is the implied person within nullo alio (specifically, the pronoun eo acting as the object of the preposition a), meaning "the person by whom she was manumitted."
  2. §23.2.51.1perinde eam haberi atque si a patre eius manumissa esset — This is the construction perinde... atque si (just as if). The verb manumissa esset in the subordinate clause is in the pluperfect subjunctive to express a contrary-to-fact condition.
  3. §23.2.51.1et ideo potest eam uxorem ducere — The subject of potest is the filius familias (son in power) mentioned at the beginning. Although the father is legally considered the manumittor due to his command, the son's right to marry her is preserved.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.2.51.pr-23.2.51.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.2.51.pr-23.2.51.1

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