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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.5.16.pr

Freedom and Compensation for Common Slaves Who Reveal Murder

Passage 4562 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that when a master is killed by his household, a common slave who reveals the death should be set free, but the co-owner of the slave must receive his respective share of the slave's price.

[MARCELLUS libro duodecimo digestorum. ] §29.5.16.prDomino a familia occiso seruus communis necem eius detexit: fauore libertatis liber quidem fieri debet, pretii autem partem sibi contingentem socium consequi oportet.
[MARCELLUS, in his twelfth book of Digest.] When a master was killed by his household, a common slave revealed his death: in favor of liberty, he indeed ought to become free, but the partner ought to obtain the share of the price falling to him.

Notes

  1. §29.5.16.prDomino a familia occiso — An ablative absolute indicating time or circumstance ("when a master was killed by his household"). Here, `familia` refers to the household of slaves rather than the family.
  2. §29.5.16.prpretii autem partem sibi contingentem socium consequi oportet — An accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction functioning as the subject of the impersonal verb `oportet`. `socium` is the subject accusative, `consequi` is the infinitive, and `partem` is its object. The present participle `contingentem` agrees with `partem`. The reflexive pronoun `sibi` refers to `socium`, the logical subject of the infinitive, rather than the subject of the main clause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.5.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.5.16.pr

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