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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.45.pr

Freedman Competing in the Same Trade in the Same Place

Passage 5930 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Addresses whether a freedman of a clothing merchant can carry on the same business in the same place against his patron's will, answering that it is permitted as long as the patron suffers no injury.

[IDEM libro secundo responsorum. ] §38.1.45.prLibertus negotiatoris uestiarii an eandem negotiationem in eadem ciuitate et eodem loco inuito patrono exercere possit? respondit nihil proponi, cur non possit, si nullam laesionem ex hoc sentiet patronus.
[THE SAME, in his second book of Opinions.] Can the freedman of a clothing merchant, against the will of his patron, carry on the same business in the same city and in the same place? He replied that there was nothing put forward to show why he could not, if the patron would suffer no injury from this.

Notes

  1. §38.1.45.prnegotiatoris uestiarii — A genitive modifying 'libertus' (freedman), implying 'the freedman of a [patron who is a] clothing merchant'. This relationship explains the context of carrying on 'the same business' (eandem negotiationem).
  2. §38.1.45.prinuito patrono — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the adjective 'inuitus' (unwilling) and the noun 'patronus' (patron), expressing concession or condition, translated as 'against the will of the patron'.
  3. §38.1.45.prnihil proponi, cur non possit — An accusative with infinitive (Aci) construction governed by 'respondit'. 'proponi' is the present passive infinitive. Literally 'that nothing is put forward why he cannot', meaning that there is no legal bar to his doing so.
  4. §38.1.45.prsentiet — The third-person singular future indicative of 'sentio' (to feel, suffer). The future tense in the 'si' clause precisely indicates a condition for the future state of affairs in the main clause, meaning 'if the patron is not to suffer any injury'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.45.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.45.pr

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