Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.37.pr

Bequest of Ineffectually Manumitted Slaves

Passage 4764 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that a slave ineffectually manumitted by a will can be bequeathed in the same will, as liberty only takes precedence over a legacy when validly granted.

[IAUOLENUS libro primo ex Cassio. ] §31.0.37.prQui testamento inutiliter manumissus est legari eodem testamento potest, quia totiens efficacior est libertas legato, quotiens utiliter data est.

[IAVOLENUS, in the first book of his commentary on Cassius.] A person who has been ineffectually manumitted by a will can be bequeathed by the same will, because liberty is more effective than a legacy only when it has been validly granted.

Notes

31.0.37.prtotiens ... quotiens — Correlative adverbs meaning literally "as many times as...", but here functioning to express a conditional or restrictive relationship: "only in so far as..." or "only when...". Thus, it indicates that manumission (libertas) prevails over a legacy (legatum) only on the condition that it has been validly granted (utiliter data est).
31.0.37.prlegato — Ablative of comparison associated with the comparative adjective efficacior (more effective), meaning "than a legacy".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.37.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.37.pr

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