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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §36.1.55.pr

Compelling Acceptance for a Slave with Uncertain Freedom

Passage 5608 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinian's view that an heir cannot be compelled to enter a suspect inheritance for a slave who was bequeathed freedom by a legatee and the inheritance by the heir, as long as the manumission is uncertain, but compulsion is allowed if the legatee dies before the testator.

[IDEM libro uicensimo quaestionum. ] §36.1.55.prNon est cogendus heres suspectam adire hereditatem ab eo, cui libertas a legatario, hereditas ab herede relicta est, cum status hominis ex legato pendeat et nemo se cogatur adstringere hereditariis actionibus propter legatum.
[THE SAME, Questions, Book 20] An heir is not to be compelled to enter upon a suspect inheritance by one to whom freedom has been left by a legatee, and the inheritance by the heir, since the status of the man depends on a legacy, and no one is compelled to bind himself to hereditary actions for the sake of a legacy.
quid enim, si inter moras non manumittente legatario seruus decesserit? si autem uiuo testatore legatarius decesserit, benigne respondetur cogendum adire, cum in ipsius sit potestate manumisso restituere hereditatem.
For what if, during the delays, the legatee not manumitting him, the slave should die? But if the legatee should die during the lifetime of the testator, it is favorably answered that the heir must be compelled to enter, since it is in his own power to restore the inheritance to him once he is manumitted.

Notes

  1. §36.1.55.prab eo — The prepositional phrase ab eo expresses the agent (by whom) with the passive gerundive expression suspectam adire hereditatem non est cogendus heres. The pronoun eo is the antecedent of the following relative pronoun cui and refers to the slave (homo / seruus) to whom both freedom and the inheritance were left.
  2. §36.1.55.prnon manumittente legatario — An ablative absolute using the present participle, expressing a conditional reservation: 'the legatee not manumitting him' or 'while the legatee does not manumit him.'
  3. §36.1.55.prcogendum adire — An accusative with infinitive construction (or impersonal construction) with the gerundive, where the subject heres (accusative heredem) is omitted. If the legatee dies before the testator, the legacy of the slave lapses and falls back to the heir, who can then execute the manumission and restoration of the inheritance by his own authority (in ipsius potestate) without depending on the arbitrary decision of a third party (the legatee). Therefore, it becomes reasonable to compel him to enter the inheritance even if it is suspect.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §36.1.55.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:36.1.55.pr

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