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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.38.pr-38.1.38.1

Services Free from Disgrace and Danger to Life

Passage 5923 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Callistratus rules that legally enforceable services (operae) of a freedman must be free from disgrace and danger to life, and defines the scope of skilled services and alternative duties if the freedman ceases his trade.

[CALLISTRATUS libro tertio edicti monitorii. ] §38.1.38.prHae demum impositae operae intelleguntur, quae sino turpitudine praestari possunt et sine periculo uitae.
[CALLISTRATUS, in his third book on the monitory edict.]Only those services are understood to be imposed which can be performed without disgrace and without danger to life.
nec enim si meretrix manumissa fuerit, easdem operas patrono praestare debet, quamuis adhuc corpore quaestum faciat: nec harenarius manumissus tales operas, quia istae sine periculo uitae praestari non possunt. §38.1.38.1Si tamen libertus artificium exerceat, eius quoque operas patrono praestare debebit, etsi post manumissionem id didicerit.
For neither if a prostitute has been manumitted, is she bound to perform the same services to her patron, although she still makes a living by her body; nor is a manumitted gladiator bound to perform such services, because those cannot be performed without danger to life.If, however, a freedman practices a trade, he will be bound to perform services of that trade also to his patron, even if he learned it after manumission.
quod si artificium exercere desierit, tales operas edere debebit, quae non contra dignitatem eius fuerint, ueluti ut cum patrono moretur, peregre proficiscatur, negotium eius exerceat.
But if he ceases to practice the trade, he will be bound to render such services as are not contrary to his dignity, such as to stay with his patron, to go abroad, or to manage his business.

Notes

  1. §38.1.38.prsino — A scribal error for the preposition "sine" (governing the ablative, meaning "without").
  2. §38.1.38.prnec harenarius manumissus tales operas — The verb phrase "debet praestare" from the preceding clause is elliptical here. The structure should be understood as "nec harenarius manumissus tales operas [praestare debet]" (nor is a manumitted gladiator bound to perform such services).
  3. §38.1.38.1ueluti ut cum patrono moretur, peregre proficiscatur, negotium eius exerceat — The conjunction "ut" with the present subjunctives (moretur, proficiscatur, exerceat) is introduced by "ueluti" (for example), forming noun clauses that concretely exemplify "tales operas... quae..." (such services as...).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.38.pr-38.1.38.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.38.pr-38.1.38.1

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