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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.1.5.pr-40.1.5.1

Claims for Freedom by Redeemed Slaves and Accounting

Passage 6299 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains the procedure for a slave bought with his own money to bring a lawsuit against a master who refuses to manumit him, the penalty for false claims, and the appointment of an arbiter in cases of manumission upon rendering accounts.

[MARCIANUS libro secundo institutionum. ] §40.1.5.prSi quis dicat se suis nummis emptum, potest consistere cum domino suo, cuius in fidem confugit, et queri, quod ab eo non manumittatur, Romae quidem apud praefectum urbis, in prouinciis uero apud praesides ex sacris constitutionibus diuorum fratrum, sub ea tamen denuntiatione, ut is seruus, qui hoc intenderit nec inpleuerit, in opus metalli detur, nisi forte dominus reddi eum sibi maluerit, utique non maiorem ex ea causa poenam constituturus.
[MARCIANUS, in the second book of Institutes.] If anyone should claim that he was bought with his own money, he can contend in court with his master, on whose good faith he relied, and complain that he is not manumitted by him—at Rome indeed before the prefect of the city, but in the provinces before the governors—in accordance with the sacred constitutions of the deified brothers; under this warning, however, that the slave who has brought this claim and failed to prove it shall be sentenced to labor in the mines, unless by chance the master should prefer that he be returned to him, being in any case not to impose a greater punishment on that account.
§40.1.5.1Sed et si rationibus redditis liber esse iussus fuerit, arbiter inter seruum et dominum, id est heredem, datur de rationibus excutiendis.
But also, if he was ordered to be free upon rendering his accounts, an arbiter is appointed between the slave and the master, that is, the heir, for the purpose of examining the accounts.

Notes

  1. 40.1.5.prconsistere — Here, "consistere" has the legal meaning of "to contend in court" or "to appear as an opposing party." Normally, a slave does not have the capacity to bring a lawsuit against his master, but under this constitution, he is exceptionally permitted to confront his master in court.
  2. 40.1.5.prconstituturus — A future active participle agreeing with the subject of the clause, "dominus" ("master"). It expresses a condition ("on the condition of...") or intention ("intending to..."), interpreted here as "under the premise that he will not impose a heavier punishment than labor in the mines."
  3. 40.1.5.1rationibus redditis — An ablative absolute construction (noun "rationibus" + participle "redditis"), literally "upon rendering the accounts." It refers to the context, often in a will, where finishing the settlement of the master's accounts managed by the slave is made a condition for obtaining freedom.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.1.5.pr-40.1.5.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.1.5.pr-40.1.5.1

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