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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.14.23.pr-37.14.23.1

Loss of Patronal Rights and Freedom under a False Codicil

Passage 5873 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the deprivation of patronal rights from a son who fails to avenge his father's murder, and rules that slaves freed under a false codicil must pay their own valuation while their status as the manumitter's freedmen is preserved.

[TRYPHONINUS libro quinto decimo disputationum. ] §37.14.23.prSi filius patris necem inultam reliquerit, quam seruus detexit et meruit libertatem, dixi non habendum pro patroni filio, quia indignus est.
[TRYPHONINUS, in the fifteenth book of Disputations.] If a son has left the murder of his father unavenged, which a slave exposed and thereby earned his freedom, I have said that he is not to be regarded as the son of a patron, because he is unworthy.
§37.14.23.1Cum ex falsis codicillis, qui ueri aliquo tempore crediti sunt, heres ignorans quasi ex fideicommisso libertatem seruis praestitisset, rescriptum est a diuo Hadriano liberos quidem eos esse, sed aestimationem sui praestare debere: et hos libertos manumissoris esse recte probatur, quia saluum est etiam in his libertis ius patroni.
When an heir, being ignorant, had granted freedom to slaves on the basis of a false codicil, which for a certain time was believed to be genuine, as if under a trust, it was replied in a rescript by the Divine Hadrian that they were indeed free, but must pay the estimation of themselves; and it is rightly established that these freedmen belong to the manumitter, because even in the case of these freedmen, the right of the patron is preserved.

Notes

  1. §37.14.23.prquam — A relative pronoun in the feminine accusative singular, referring back to the feminine noun `necem` (murder). In the relative clause `quam seruus detexit et meruit libertatem`, it serves as the direct object of `detexit` ('exposed'), while the subsequent verb `meruit` expresses the result of this action ('earned freedom [thereby]').
  2. §37.14.23.prnon habendum — The gerundive `habendum` [esse] forms an accusative and infinitive construction (indirect speech) introduced by the main verb `dixi` (perfect of `dico`), agreeing with an omitted accusative subject `eum` (referring to `filius`). `habere pro...` is an idiomatic phrase meaning 'to regard as...'.
  3. §37.14.23.1aestimationem sui — The genitive `sui` is the reflexive pronoun referring to the plural subject `eos` (the former slaves), serving as an objective genitive dependent on `aestimationem` (valuation, price). Thus, it means 'the valuation of themselves' (i.e., their purchase price).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.14.23.pr-37.14.23.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.14.23.pr-37.14.23.1

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