Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.5.3.pr-4.5.3.1

Capitis Deminutio in Arrogation and Emancipation

Passage 755 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the diminution of status for children who follow an arrogated parent, and the reason (fictitious slavery) for the diminution of status of emancipated sons, contrasting it with the manumission of slaves.

[PAULUS libro undecimo ad edictum. ] §4.5.3.prLiberos qui adrogatum parentem sequuntur placet minui caput, cum in aliena potestate sint et cum familiam mutauerint.
[PAULUS libro undecimo ad edictum.] It is held that children who follow a parent who has been arrogated suffer a diminution of status, since they come under another's power and have changed their family.
§4.5.3.1Emancipato filio et ceteris personis capitis minutio manifesto accidit, cum emancipari nemo possit nisi in imaginariam seruilem causam deductus: aliter atque cum seruus manumittitur, quia seruile caput nullum ius habet ideoque nec minui potest:
A diminution of status manifestly happens to an emancipated son and to other persons, since no one can be emancipated unless he has been brought into a fictitious condition of slavery; it is otherwise than when a slave is manumitted, because a slave's status has no rights and therefore cannot even be diminished.

Notes

  1. §4.5.3.prplacet minui caput — The impersonal verb placet takes the accusative and infinitive clause liberos... minui caput as its subject, meaning 'it is held / accepted that...'. caput minui (or capite minui) refers to suffering a diminution of status.
  2. §4.5.3.1nisi in imaginariam seruilem causam deductus — deductus is a perfect participle in the nominative singular masculine, modifying the subject nemo. It expresses a conditional sense: 'unless he has been brought into a fictitious condition of slavery'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.5.3.pr-4.5.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.5.3.pr-4.5.3.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.