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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.83.pr

Substitution of Slaves and Denial of Duplicate Trust

Passage 4812 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a case where a patron acquired an inheritance share through his female slaves due to a daughter's rejection, it is discussed whether the slaves, once freed, can also claim the original trust from the patron; the jurist rules that the substitution is implicitly subject to the same condition of freedom, preventing duplicate claims.

[IDEM libro undecimo quaestionum. ] §31.0.83.prLatinus Largus.
[THE SAME, from the eleventh book of questions.] Latinus Largus.
Proxime ex facto incidit species talis.
Recently, from a matter of fact, a case of this kind arose.
libertinus patronum ex semisse heredem instituit et filiam suam ex alio semisse: fidei commissit filiae, ut quibusdam ancillis patroni restitueret, cum hae manumissae essent, et, si eadem filia heres non esset, substituit ei easdem ancillas.
A freedman appointed his patron heir to a half share, and his daughter to the other half share; he laid a trust upon the daughter to restore it to certain female slaves of the patron, when they should be manumitted, and, if the same daughter should not be heir, he substituted the same female slaves for her.
quoniam filia non uoluit heres exsistere, ancillae iussu domini, id est patroni adierunt defuncti hereditatem.
Since the daughter did not wish to become heir, the female slaves, by order of their master, that is, the patron, entered upon the inheritance of the deceased.
post aliquantum temporis ab eo manumissae quaerebant, an fideicommissum petere ab eodem patrono possint.
Having been manumitted by him after some time, they asked whether they could claim the trust from the same patron.
rogo ergo, quid de hoc existimes rescribas.
I ask, therefore, that you write back what you think about this.
respondi nec repetitum uideri in huno casum fideicommissum, sed alterutrum datum uel fideicommissum uel ipsam hereditatem.
I replied that the trust does not seem to have been repeated for this case, but that either the one or the other was given, namely either the trust or the inheritance itself.
melius autem dici in eundem casum substitutas uideri, in quem casum fideicommissum meruerunt, et ideo ad substitutionem eas uocari.
However, it is better to say that they seem to have been substituted for the same case in which they were entitled to the trust, and therefore they are called to the substitution.
cum enim seruo alieno fideicommissum ab uno ex heredibus sub condicione libertatis fuerit datum idemque seruus ei heredi substituatur, licet pure substitutio facta sit, tamen sub eadem condicione substitui uidetur, sub qua fideicommissum meruit.
For when a trust has been given to another's slave by one of the heirs under the condition of freedom, and the same slave is substituted for that heir, although the substitution was made unconditionally, nevertheless he seems to be substituted under the same condition under which he was entitled to the trust.

Notes

  1. §31.0.83.prhuno — A scribal error in the manuscripts, which is corrected to the accusative hunc to read hunc casum ('for this case').
  2. §31.0.83.prancillae iussu domini, id est patroni adierunt — Since slaves could not hold property independently, their entry (adire) into the inheritance by order of their master (iussu domini) meant that the inheritance share was acquired directly by their master, the patron.
  3. §31.0.83.prlicet pure substitutio facta sit — Although the substitution was verbally made unconditionally (pure), the condition of 'manumission' attached to the trust is construed as implicitly applying to the substitution as well.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.83.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.83.pr

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