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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.4.9.pr

Assignment of Freedmen to an Emancipated Son

Passage 5997 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the question of whether a patron can assign a freedman to an emancipated son as well as to one under power, the author presents the dominant view that it is permissible, provided that the patron has at least two other descendants under power.

[IDEM libro nono pandectarum. ] §38.4.9.prUtrum ei tantum qui in potestate sit an etiam emancipato filio adsignare libertum patronus possit, si modo non pauciores quam duos praeterea in potestate habeat, dubitari solet: et magis est posse.
[THE SAME in the ninth book of the Pandects.] It is commonly doubted whether a patron can assign a freedman only to one who is under his power, or also to an emancipated son, provided that he has besides no fewer than two others under his power; and the view that he can do so is more acceptable.

Notes

  1. 38.4.9.prdubitari solet — The entire indirect question clause utrum ... possit functions as the substantive subject of the impersonal passive construction dubitari solet.
  2. 38.4.9.prmagis est posse — magis est is an idiomatic phrase meaning "it is more correct" or "the view is more accepted." The infinitive posse refers back to adsignare ... possit and functions as the subject, with the logical subject patronum understood (meaning "that the patron is able to do so").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.4.9.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.4.9.pr

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