Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.99.pr-32.0.99.5

Distinction Between Urban and Rustic Slaves in Legacies

Passage 4923 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses the criteria for distinguishing between urban and rustic slaves, using specific occupations, the master's personal classification, and rearing circumstances as examples. It also establishes the rules of precedence when a slave qualifies under both a general category and a specific occupational category in multiple legacies.

[IDEM libro singulari de instrumenti significatione. ] §32.0.99.prSeruis urbanis legatis quidam urbana mancipia non loco, sed opere separant, ut, licet in praediis rusticis sint, tamen si opus rusticum non faciant, urbani uidentur.
[THE SAME, from his single book on the Meaning of Equipment.] When town slaves are bequeathed, some people distinguish town slaves not by place but by occupation, so that, although they are on rustic estates, yet if they do not perform rustic work, they are regarded as town slaves.
dicendum autem est, quod urbani intellegendi sunt, quos pater familias inter urbanos adnumerare solitus sit: quod maxime ex libellis familiae, item cibariis deprehendi poterit.
But it must be said that those whom the head of the household was accustomed to class among the town slaves are to be understood as town slaves; which can be discovered especially from the registers of the household, and likewise from the rations.
§32.0.99.1Uenatores et aucupes utrum in urbanis an in rusticis contineantur, potest dubitari: sed dicendum est, ubi pater familias moraretur et hos alebat, ibi eos numerari.
Whether hunters and bird-catchers are included among town slaves or rustic slaves can be doubted; but it must be said that they are to be numbered where the head of the household resided and maintained them.
§32.0.99.2Muliones de urbano ministerio sunt, nisi propter opus rurestre testator eos destinatos habebat.
Mule-drivers belong to the town service, unless the testator kept them destined for rustic work.
§32.0.99.3Eum, qui natus est ex ancilla urbana et missus in uillam nutriendus, interim in neutris esse quidam putant: uideamus, ne in urbanis esse intellegatur, quod magis placet.
Concerning one who was born of a town female slave and sent to a country villa to be reared, some think that in the meantime he belongs to neither; let us see whether he should not be understood to belong to the town slaves, which is the more approved view.
§32.0.99.4Seruis lecticariis legatis si idem lecticarius sit et cocus, accedet legato.
If litter-bearers are bequeathed, and the same person is both a litter-bearer and a cook, he will go with the legacy.
§32.0.99.5Si alii uernae, alii cursores legati sunt, si quidam et uernae et cursores sint, cursoribus cedent: semper enim species generi derogat, si in specie aut in genere utrique sint, plerumque communicabuntur.
If home-born slaves are bequeathed to some, and runners to others, and if certain slaves are both home-born and runners, they shall go to the runners; for the species always derogates from the genus; but if both [legacies] are in the species or in the genus, they will generally be shared.

Notes

  1. §32.0.99.prdicendum autem est, quod urbani intellegendi sunt — After the impersonal expression `dicendum est`, a clause introduced by the conjunction `quod` with the indicative is used instead of the accusative with infinitive (Aci) construction common in classical Latin. This is a characteristic syntax found in late and legal Latin.
  2. §32.0.99.3uideamus, ne in urbanis esse intellegatur — Although `uideamus ne` literally means "let us see lest," in legal texts it functions as a polite or cautious way of suggesting a positive view: "let us consider whether he should not be understood as..." This interpretation is supported by the subsequent clause `quod magis placet` (which is the more approved view).
  3. §32.0.99.5cursoribus cedent — The verb `cedere` normally means "to yield" or "to withdraw," but in legal Latin, when governing the dative, it is used in the sense of "to go to," "to accrue to," or "to belong to" a beneficiary. Here, it indicates that those who are both home-born and runners "shall go to the [legatees of the] runners."
  4. §32.0.99.5semper enim species generi derogat — A well-known maxim of Roman legal interpretation. The verb `derogare` governs the dative (`generi`) and means "to derogate from" or "to restrict." It indicates that a specific or occupational category (species: here, runners) takes precedence over a general category (genus: here, home-born slaves).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.99.pr-32.0.99.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.99.pr-32.0.99.5

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.