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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.3.18.pr

Offspring of Appraised Slaves and Return of Value

Passage 3392 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius presents Labeo's view that if slaves are received as an appraised dowry with an agreement to return the same value upon divorce, any offspring born to them remains with the husband, since the risk of the slaves was his.

[POMPONIUS libro quarto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §23.3.18.prSi mancipia in dotem aestimata accepisti et pactum conuentum factum est, ut tantidem aestimata diuortio facto redderes, manere partum eorum apud te Labeo ait, quia et mancipia tuo periculo fuerint.
[POMPONIUS in the fourteenth book on Sabinus.] If you have received slaves appraised for a dowry, and an agreement has been made that, in the event of a divorce, you should return them at the same valuation, Labeo says that their offspring remains with you, because the slaves also have been at your risk.

Notes

  1. §23.3.18.prtantidem aestimata — Inside the subjunctive clause ut... redderes, tantidem (genitive of value of tantus with the suffix -dem) modifies aestimata, meaning "appraised at the same value." This indicates that the dotal property was treated as an appraised dowry (dos aestimata), with an agreement that the equivalent value should be returned upon divorce.
  2. §23.3.18.prpartum — The accusative singular of partus, -us (m., derivative of pario, to bring forth), referring here to the offspring of the slave. It functions as the subject of the accusative-with-infinitive construction manere partum...
  3. §23.3.18.prtuo periculo fuerint — fuerint is in the perfect subjunctive because it is a subordinate clause in indirect discourse (expressing Labeo's reasoning). tuo periculo (ablative of manner/circumstance) means "at your risk." In Roman law, since the risk (periculum) of the property's loss fell on the husband (who was obligated to return the value), the ownership and consequently the fruits (the offspring) also belonged to him.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.3.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.3.18.pr

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