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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.7.3.pr-33.7.3.1

Trust of Equipped Land and Status of Failed Manumissions

Passage 5060 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The discourse addresses the scope of a trust regarding an equipped estate bequeathed to freedmen, and the status of slaves who were manumitted by an underage owner but failed to attain legal freedom.

[IDEM libro octauo responsorum. ] §33.7.3.prFundum instructum libertis patronus testamento legauit: postea codicillis petit, ut morientes partes suas fundi superstitibus restituerent, nec instructi mentionem habuit.
[THE SAME, Opinions, Book 8] A patron bequeathed an equipped estate by will to his freedmen; afterwards, in a codicil, he requested that on their death they should restore their shares of the estate to the survivors, and made no mention of it being equipped.
talem in causam fideicommissi deductum uideri placuit, qualis fuerat legatus, sed medii temporis augmenta fetuum et partuum, item detrimenta fatalium fideicommisso contineri.
It was held that the estate should be regarded as brought into the trust in the same condition as it had been bequeathed, but that any increase of fruits and offspring during the intermediate time, as well as loss by inevitable accident, is included in the trust.
§33.7.3.1Minor uiginti annis instructa praedia consobrinae suae dari uoluit et quosdam seruos praediorum uiuus manumisit.
A person under twenty years of age wished equipped estates to be given to his female cousin, and in his lifetime manumitted certain slaves belonging to the estates.
non idcirco serui manumissi praestabuntur, quod ad libertatem peruenire non possunt.
The manumitted slaves will not, for the reason that they cannot attain freedom, be delivered [as part of the equipment].
idem iuris est, cum ex quauis alia causa libertas non competit.
The same rule of law applies when freedom is not competent from any other cause.

Notes

  1. §33.7.3.prtalem in causam fideicommissi deductum uideri — An accusative with infinitive clause dependent on the main verb `placuit`. The subject (accusative) of `deductum [esse] uideri` is the demonstrative `talem [fundum]` referring back to the `fundum` in the preceding sentence, which corresponds to the correlative clause `qualis fuerat legatus`.
  2. §33.7.3.prsed medii temporis augmenta fetuum et partuum, item detrimenta fatalium fideicommisso contineri — This is also an accusative with infinitive clause dependent on `placuit`, where `augmenta` and `detrimenta` act as subjects (accusative) of the passive infinitive `contineri`. `fatalium` is the genitive plural of the neuter noun `fatalia` (inevitable accidents/losses), modifying `detrimenta`.
  3. §33.7.3.1Minor uiginti annis — `annis` is an ablative of comparison, meaning "a person younger than twenty years." It points to the legal background of the Lex Aelia Sentia, under which owners under twenty could not validly manumit slaves without proper approval from a council.
  4. §33.7.3.1non idcirco serui manumissi praestabuntur, quod — The correlative construction `non idcirco... quod` (not therefore... because / it does not follow that... just because) is used. Legally, even if the manumission was invalid, the owner's subjective intention was to detach them from the estate's equipment, so they do not need to be delivered to the legatee as part of the estate.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.7.3.pr-33.7.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.7.3.pr-33.7.3.1

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