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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.4.33.pr

Relief of a Minor from Manumission upon Returning a Legacy

Passage 735 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text presents Julian's opinion that a minor who was requested to manumit his slave in exchange for a legacy should be released from this obligation upon returning the legacy, just as adults are free to refuse such a legacy.

[ABURNIUS UALENS libro sexto fideicommissorum. ] §4.4.33.prSi minor uiginti quinque annis seruum suum, qui pluris, quam in testamento ei legatum sit, manumittere rogatus fuerit et legatum acceperit, non cogendum praestare libertatem, si legatum reddere paratus sit, Iulianus respondit: ut quemadmodum maioribus liberum sit non accipere, si nolint manumittere, sic huic reddenti legatum necessitas manumittendi remittatur.
[ABURNIUS VALENS, in the sixth book on Trusts.] Julian replied that if a minor under twenty-five years of age has been requested to manumit his own slave, who is of greater value than what was bequeathed to him in the will, and has accepted the legacy, he ought not to be compelled to grant freedom, if he is prepared to return the legacy; so that, just as adults are free not to accept if they do not wish to manumit, so to this minor, upon returning the legacy, the necessity of manumitting should be remitted.

Notes

  1. §4.4.33.prpluris — Genitive of value (genitivus pretii), serving as the complement within the relative clause `qui pluris... sit` where the subjunctive verb `sit` (or `fuerit`) is omitted. It indicates that the value of the slave exceeds that of the legacy.
  2. §4.4.33.prnon cogendum — This is part of an accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction dependent on `respondit`. The subject pronoun `eum` (referring to the minor) and the auxiliary `esse` are omitted, resulting in the gerundive form `non cogendum [esse eum]`.
  3. §4.4.33.prhuic reddenti legatum — The demonstrative pronoun `huic` (referring to the minor) is a dative of interest (or separation) dependent on the verb `remittatur`. The present participle `reddenti` functions as a circumstantial participle implying condition ('if he returns').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.4.33.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.4.33.pr

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