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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.11.1.pr

Invalidity of Restoration Gained under False Birth Claims

Passage 6561 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus rules that if a person who was restored to his birthrights by the emperor under the claim of being freeborn was actually born of a female slave, his restoration is considered void.

[ULPIANUS libro secundo responsorum. ] §40.11.1.prA principe natalibus suis restitutum eum, qui se ingenuum natum principi adfirmauit, si ex ancilla natus est, nihil uideri impetrasse.
[BY ULPIANUS, from the second book of Opinions.] He who has been restored to his birthrights by the emperor, and who asserted to the emperor that he was born freeborn, is deemed to have obtained nothing if he was actually born of a female slave.

Notes

  1. 40.11.1.preum ... nihil uideri impetrasse — The entire sentence is structured as an accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction, which is characteristic of indirect speech (oratio obliqua) quoting a jurist's response (responsum). The accusative `eum` is the subject of the infinitive `uideri`, and the perfect infinitive `impetrasse` depends on `uideri`.
  2. 40.11.1.prse ingenuum natum — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction introduced by the verb `adfirmauit`, with the copula `esse` omitted. `se` is the accusative of the reflexive pronoun referring to the subject `qui` (which represents `eum`), and `ingenuum natum` is the predicate accusative.
  3. 40.11.1.prnatalibus suis restitutum — The verb `restituere` is used with the ablative to mean 'to restore to a former state.' The plural noun `natales` (here in the ablative `natalibus`) refers to 'birth status' or 'rights of free birth.' Here it signifies the restoration of one's original freeborn status by imperial favor.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.11.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.11.1.pr

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