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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.1.13.pr

Delivery of Slaves for Manumission by Curators of the Insane

Passage 6307 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It states the view of Octavenus that while a curator of a person of unsound mind cannot directly manumit a slave because manumission is not part of estate administration, if there is an obligation under a fideicommissum, the slave may be delivered to a third party to be manumitted by them.

[POMPONIUS libro primo ex Plautio. ] §40.1.13.prSeruus furiosi ab adgnato curatore manumitti non potest, quia in administratione patrimonii manumissio non est.
[POMPONIUS, in the first book on Plautius.] A slave of a person of unsound mind cannot be manumitted by his agnatic curator, because manumission is not included in the administration of an estate.
si autem ex fideicommissi causa deberet libertatem furiosus, dubitationis tollendae causa ab adgnato tradendum seruum, ut ab eo cui traditus esset manumittatur, Octauenus ait.
If, however, the person of unsound mind should owe freedom by virtue of a fideicommissum, Octavenus says that, for the purpose of removing any doubt, the slave ought to be delivered by the agnatic curator, so that he may be manumitted by the person to whom he was delivered.

Notes

  1. §40.1.13.prquia in administratione patrimonii manumissio non est — A causal clause explaining the Roman legal principle that because the authority of a curator for a person of unsound mind is strictly limited to the preservation and administration of the estate (administratio patrimonii), the act of manumitting a slave, which extinguishes ownership, falls outside the scope of "administration."
  2. §40.1.13.prtradendum seruum — An expression of necessity consisting of an accusative and a gerundive (future passive participle). This functions as the subject accusative and predicate in indirect speech (accusative with infinitive construction) dependent on the main verb `Octauenus ait`, with `esse` omitted. The subject is `seruum` and the gerundive is `tradendum`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.1.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.1.13.pr

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