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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.5.15.pr

Legacy to Unfreed Slave and Rights of Optionee

Passage 5034 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Deals with a legacy made to a slave without manumission, deciding that if the slave is later acquired by a third party through a bequest of choice, the legacy made to the slave does not belong to the new master.

[IDEM libro secundo epistularum. ] §33.5.15.prSeruo sine libertate legaui, deinde optionem seruorum Maeuio dedi: is eundem seruum optauit: quaero, an id quoque quod legatum est ei deberetur.
[THE SAME, Book II of Letters.] I bequeathed to a slave without granting freedom, and then I gave Maevius the choice of the slaves: he chose the same slave: I ask whether that which was bequeathed should also be owed to him.
respondit: non puto legatum huius serui nomine ad dominum pertinere.
He answered: I do not think that the legacy made in the name of this slave belongs to the master.

Notes

  1. §33.5.15.prei deberetur — The dative pronoun ei can be interpreted as referring either to the immediate antecedent eundem seruum (the slave) or to Maeuio (Maevius), who exercised the choice. In terms of substance, since what is owed to a slave would accrue to his master, the legal issue (whether the new master Maevius is entitled to the legacy) remains the same under either interpretation.
  2. §33.5.15.prhuius serui nomine — nomine (ablative singular) means "in the name of" or "on account of," and combined with the genitive huius serui, it indicates the designation of the recipient, meaning "in the capacity of this slave" or "made to this slave."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.5.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.5.15.pr

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