Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.5.8.pr

Performances by Freedmen for Liberty Not Ranked as Gifts

Passage 6223 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that performances rendered by a freedman as an obligation imposed for his manumission are not considered donations, because a consideration (namely, liberty) has intervened.

[PAULUS libro quinto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §39.5.8.prQuae liberti imposita libertatis causa praestant, ea non donantur: res enim pro his intercessit.
[PAULUS in the fifteenth book on Sabinus.] The things which freedmen perform, having been imposed for the sake of their liberty, are not donated; for a consideration has intervened in return for them.

Notes

  1. §39.5.8.primposita — The perfect passive participle `imposita` (neuter plural accusative) modifies the relative pronoun `quae`, referring to the services or obligations imposed on the freedman as a condition of his manumission.
  2. §39.5.8.prres — Here `res` does not refer to a physical "thing," but to a "consideration" or "substantial exchange" (namely, the acquisition of liberty) which deprives the performance of its gratuitous character as a donation.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.5.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.5.8.pr

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