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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.96.pr-35.1.96.1

Manumission Conditioned on Extinction of Usufruct

Passage 5427 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the validity of the conditional manumission of a slave whose usufruct was bequeathed, in cases such as the death of the beneficiary during the testator's lifetime.

[PAULUS libro primo ad Neratium. ] §35.1.96.prTitio usus fructus serui legatus est et, si ad eum pertinere desisset, libertas seruo data est.
[PAULUS in the first book on Neratius.] A usufruct of a slave was bequeathed to Titius, and, if it should cease to belong to him, freedom was granted to the slave.
Titius uiuo testatore decessit.
Titius died during the lifetime of the testator.
libertas non ualet, quia condicio nec initium accepit.
The freedom is not valid, because the condition did not even receive a beginning.
PAULUS. ergo et si uiueret Titius et capere non potest, idem dicendum est: desisse enim non uidetur, quod nec incipit.
PAULUS. Therefore, even if Titius were alive but cannot take (the legacy), the same must be said: for that which does not even begin is not deemed to have ceased.
§35.1.96.1Serui usus fructus mulieri, quoad uidua esset, legatus, idem seruus, si ea nubsisset, liber esse iussus est.
The usufruct of a slave was bequeathed to a woman as long as she remained a widow, and the same slave was ordered to be free if she should marry.
si mulier nubserit, liber erit, quia potior est legato libertas.
If the woman marries, he will be free, because freedom is preferable to a legacy.

Notes

  1. §35.1.96.pruiuo testatore — An ablative absolute consisting of a noun and an adjective, indicating time: "while the testator was alive".
  2. §35.1.96.pret si uiueret Titius et capere non potest — A combination of the subjunctive imperfect (uiueret) and the indicative present (potest) in the conditional clauses. The former presents a hypothesis contrary to fact ("even if Titius were alive"), while the latter expresses a factual condition of incapacity ("and cannot take").
  3. §35.1.96.1legato — Ablative of comparison dependent on the comparative adjective "potior" (preferable). It refers to the legacy of usufruct, meaning "than the legacy".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.96.pr-35.1.96.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.96.pr-35.1.96.1

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