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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.4.11.pr

Allocation of Freedmen for Maintenance and Patronal Rights

Passage 5999 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinian replies that freedmen allocated to children for the purpose of maintenance are not considered formally assigned, as the patron intended only to facilitate the execution of maintenance while preserving the common patronal rights.

[PAPINIANUS libro quarto decimo responsorum. ] §38.4.11.prAlimentorum causa libertos filiis adtributos filiis adsignatos non uideri respondi, cum ea ratione libertis consuli patronus uoluerit, quo facilius uoluntatis emolumentum consequantur, saluo iure communi.
[PAPINIANUS in the fourteenth book of Opinions.] I replied that freedmen allocated to children for the purpose of maintenance do not seem to have been assigned to those children, since the patron wished in this way to consult the interest of the freedmen, so that they might more easily obtain the benefit of his will, saving the common right.

Notes

  1. §38.4.11.pradtributos filiis adsignatos non uideri — An accusative with infinitive clause functioning as the object of respondi, with libertos (modified by adtributos) as its subject. A strict legal distinction is drawn between adtributos ('allocated/assigned' for a specific purpose like maintenance) and adsignatos ('formally assigned' under the rules of assignment of freedmen).
  2. §38.4.11.prlibertis consuli — The verb consulere governs the dative case to mean 'to consult the interest of.' Here it is used in the passive infinitive consuli impersonally, retaining its dative complement libertis, and functioning as the complement of uoluerit.
  3. §38.4.11.prquo facilius — In a purpose clause, when a comparative (here the adverb facilius) is present within the clause, the conjunction quo (derived from the ablative of the relative pronoun) is regularly used instead of ut.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.4.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.4.11.pr

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