Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.12.14.pr-40.12.14.2

Action Against Free Persons Selling Themselves and Malice

Passage 6579 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses how the praetor established an action against those who maliciously allowed themselves to be sold as slaves despite knowing they were free, and defines "malice" for this context.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagensimo quinto ad edictum. ] §40.12.14.prRectissime praetor calliditati eorum, qui, cum se liberos scirent, dolo malo passi sunt se pro seruis uenum dari, occurrit.
[ULPIANUS on the Edict, book fifty-five.] Very properly did the praetor counter the craftiness of those who, although they knew they were free, maliciously allowed themselves to be sold as slaves.
§40.12.14.1Dedit enim in eos actionem, quae actio totiens locum habet, quotiens non est in ea causa is qui se uenire passus est, ut ei ad libertatem proclamatio denegetur.
For he granted an action against them, which action takes place as often as the person who allowed himself to be sold is not in such a position that a claim for freedom is denied to him.
§40.12.14.2Dolo autem non eum fecisse accipimus, qui non ultro instruxit emptorem, sed qui decepit:
However, we understand that not he who did not of his own accord inform the buyer, but he who deceived him, has acted with malice.

Notes

  1. §40.12.14.prcalliditati — Dative case. The intransitive verb `occurrit` (from `occurrere`) governs the dative, meaning "to counter" or "to block."
  2. §40.12.14.1ut — Introduces a subjunctive clause of result or characteristic, correlating with the preceding demonstrative `ea` (modifying `causa`) to mean "such a position/state that...".
  3. §40.12.14.2non eum fecisse ... qui — An accusative with infinitive construction dependent on the verb `accipimus` ("we understand"). The negative `non` does not simply negate the infinitive `fecisse` as a whole, but establishes a contrastive structure: `non [eum qui non ultro instruxit], sed [qui decepit]` ("not [the one who did not of his own accord inform], but [the one who deceived]").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.12.14.pr-40.12.14.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.12.14.pr-40.12.14.2

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.