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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §24.1.9.pr-24.1.9.2

Gifts of Unfreed Slaves and Ownership of Manumission Prices

Passage 3519 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The fragment discusses the invalidity of donating a slave who cannot be freed, and the rules of ownership regarding manumission prices and services agreed between spouses.

[ULPIANUS libro trigesimo secundo ad Sabinum. ] §24.1.9.prSi eum uxori donet maritus, qui eius erat condicionis, ne umquam ad libertatem perduci possit, dicendum est omnino nihil agi hac donatione.
[ULPIANUS libro trigesimo secundo ad Sabinum.] If a husband makes a gift to his wife of a slave who was of such a condition that he could never be brought to freedom, it must be said that absolutely nothing is accomplished by this donation.
§24.1.9.1Si pecunia accepta mulier manumiserit uel operas ei imposuerit, ait Iulianus operas quidem eam licito iure imposituram et tenere obligationem nec uideri mulierem ex re uiri locupletiorem fieri, cum eas libertus promittat: quod si pretium ob manumissionem acceperit mulier et sic manumiserit, si quidem ex peculio suo dedit, nummos mariti manere, si uero alius pro eo dedit, fient nummi mulieris: quae sententia recte se habet.
If, upon receiving money, a woman manumits a slave or imposes services upon him, Julian says that she will indeed impose the services by lawful right and the obligation holds, and that the woman does not seem to become enriched from her husband's property, since the freedman promises them; but if the woman receives a price for the manumission and thus manumits, if indeed the slave paid it from his peculium, the coins remain the husband's, but if someone else paid for him, the coins will become the woman's; which opinion is correct.
§24.1.9.2Inter uirum et uxorem mortis causa donationes receptae sunt,
Donations mortis causa between husband and wife are accepted,

Notes

  1. §24.1.9.preius erat condicionis, ne — 'eius... condicionis' is a genitive of quality, with the 'ne' clause explaining the specific content or consequence of this condition ('of such a condition that... not').
  2. §24.1.9.1ex peculio suo dedit — The subject of the verb 'dedit' is contextually the slave ('seruus') who is being manumitted. Although a slave could de facto manage a peculium, legally it belongs to the master (the husband), which is why the coins remain the husband's property.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §24.1.9.pr-24.1.9.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:24.1.9.pr-24.1.9.2

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