Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.1.10.pr

Slaves Bought on Condition of Freedom and Fiscal Pledges

Passage 6304 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A case where a procurator challenged the status of a female slave who had been bought under the condition of manumission by a debtor to the treasury; it was decided that the treasury's right of pledge did not apply, as she would have obtained freedom under the constitution of Marcus Aurelius even if not manumitted.

[IDEM imperialium sententiarum in cognitionibus prolatarum ex libris sex libro secundo. ] §40.1.10.prAelianus debitor fiscalis Euemeriae ancillam ante annos multos emerat hac lege, ut manumitteret, eamque manumiserat: procurator cum bona debitoris non sufficientia quaereret, etiam Euemeriae status quaestionem faciebat.
[THE SAME, in the second book of the Imperial Decisions Pronounced in Cognitions, in six books.] Aelianus, a debtor to the treasury, had many years before bought a female slave named Euemeria under the condition that he should manumit her, and he had manumitted her.
placuit non esse iuri fiscali locum, quo omnia bona debitorum iure pignoris tenerentur, quia ea lege empta est, et, si non manumitteretur, ex constitutione diui Marci ad libertatem perueniret.
When the procurator, seeking the assets of the debtor which were insufficient, was raising a question also concerning the status of Euemeria, it was decided that there was no room for the right of the treasury, under which all the property of debtors is held by right of pledge, because she had been bought under that condition, and, even if she had not been manumitted, she would have attained freedom under the constitution of the Divine Marcus.

Notes

  1. §40.1.10.prEuemeriae — Genitive form of the proper name Euemeria. Here it functions as an appositional genitive with ancillam ('female slave'), meaning 'a female slave named Euemeria.'
  2. §40.1.10.prquo — The ablative neuter singular of the relative pronoun qui, or a relative adverb. It refers to the legal operation or situation arising from the antecedent iuri fiscali ('right of the treasury'), introducing a relative clause that explains the nature of the treasury's privilege whereby all the property of debtors is subject to a pledge.
  3. §40.1.10.prsi non manumitteretur ... perueniret — A conditional sentence using the subjunctive imperfect, expressing a past contrary-to-fact condition (or a hypothetical non-fulfillment viewed from a past standpoint). It means 'even if she had not been manumitted (by her master), she would have attained freedom,' illustrating the compulsory effect of the constitution of Marcus Aurelius (which automatically freed slaves sold under the condition of manumission if not actually freed).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.1.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.1.10.pr

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