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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.1.14.pr-27.1.14.4

Excuses for Freedmen Serving as Guardians of Patrons' Children

Passage 3955 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment defines the scope of the terms "freedman" and "children" of a patron in relation to excuses from tutorship, and addresses the cases of self-purchased freedmen and those set free by multiple patrons.

[IDEM libro quinto excusationum. ] §27.1.14.prἈπελεύθερον ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ περὶ ἀφέσεως ἐπιτρόπων καὶ κουρατόρων εἰδέναι δεῖ ὃτι οὐ μόνον τοῦ πατρὸσ τοῦ ὀρφανοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μητρὸσ νοεῖσθαι χρή.
[THE SAME, from the fifth book on excuses.] In the discussion concerning the excuse of tutors and curators, it must be known that the term "freedman" should be understood to mean not only the freedman of the orphan's father, but also of the mother.
§27.1.14.1Καὶ ὁπόταν δὲ ζητῶμεν περὶ παίδων πάτρωνος, εἰδέναι χρὴ ὅτι τὴν προσηγορίαν ταύτην οὐκ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ βαθμῷ στήσομεν, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν υἱὸν καὶ θυγατέρα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγγόνους ἐξ ἑκατέρου καὶ τοὺς ἐφεξῆς.
And when we inquire concerning the "children" of a patron, it must be known that we shall not place this designation in the first degree only, that is, son and daughter, but we shall also include grandchildren from both, and those who follow.
§27.1.14.2Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν δίκαιον χρυσῶν δακτυλίων λάβῃ, ἔτι διασώζει τὴν τῶν ἀπελευθέρων τάξιν ἐν τούτῳ, ἅπερ ἀντέγραψεν ὁ θειότατος Ἀντωνῖνος ὁ μέγας.
But even if he receives the right of golden rings, he still preserves the status of a freedman in this matter, as the most divine Antoninus the Great replied in a rescript.
Ὁ ἰδίῳ ἀργυρίῳ §27.1.14.3ὠνηθεὶς καὶ ἀπελευθερωθεὶς οὐδαμῶς συγκρίνεται τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀπελευθέροις.
He who with his own money was purchased and set free is by no means compared to the other freedmen.
§27.1.14.4Ἐὰν πολλοὶ ἀπελευθερώσωσιν ἕνα, πάντων τοῖς τέκνοις ἐπίτροπος δοθήσεται καὶ ἀπὸ τριῶν ἐπιτροπῶν οὐκ ἀπολυθήσεται.
If many persons set one free, he shall be given as tutor to the children of all of them, and he shall not be released by reason of three tutorships.

Notes

  1. §27.1.14.prἀπελεύθερον — ἀπελεύθερον is the subject accusative of the infinitive construction νοεῖσθαι χρή. The genitives τοῦ πατρός and μητρός depend on the omitted ἀπελεύθερον, meaning "the freedman of the father" and "the freedman of the mother" respectively.
  2. §27.1.14.2Ὁ ἰδίῳ ἀργυρίῳ — Although the article Ὁ and the dative phrase ἰδίῳ ἀργυρίῳ are positioned at the end of section .2 in the text, semantically and syntactically they directly modify the participles ὠνηθεῖς καὶ ἀπελευθερωθεῖς at the beginning of the next section .3. The translation preserves this syntactic connection.
  3. §27.1.14.2δίκαιον χρυσῶν δακτυλίων — A literal translation of the Latin ius aureorum anulorum (the right of golden rings). This imperial privilege granted a freedman a legal status similar to that of a freeborn citizen (ingenuus), but this passage shows the legal doctrine that it did not extinguish his duties toward his patron (such as undertaking tutorship).
  4. §27.1.14.4ἀπὸ τριῶν ἐπιτροπῶν οὐκ ἀπολυθήσεται — In Roman law, a person holding three tutorships (or curatorships) was privileged with an excuse from undertaking a new one (trium tutelarum excusatio). However, this passage states an exception: if appointed as tutor for the children of co-patrons, he will not be released (ἀπολυθήσεται) from that duty by citing this three-tutorships rule.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.1.14.pr-27.1.14.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.1.14.pr-27.1.14.4

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