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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.12.29.pr-40.12.29.1

Status of Men Entering Military Service during Status Suits

Passage 6594 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses the legal status of individuals who enter military service during freedom litigation or after being declared freeborn, detailing the rules for discharge or transfer to a master if the judgment is reversed.

[ARRIUS MENANDER libro primo de re militari. ] §40.12.29.prQui de libertate sua litigans necdum sententia data militiae se dedit, in pari causa ceteris seruis habendus est nec exonerat eum, quod pro libero habeatur in quibusdam.
[ARRIUS MENANDER, in the first book on military affairs.] A person who, while litigating concerning his own freedom and before judgment has been rendered, has entered the military service, must be held to be in the same position as other slaves, nor does the fact that he is treated as free in certain respects exonerate him.
et licet liber apparuerit, exauctoratus, id est militia remotus castris reicietur, utique qui ex seruitute in libertatem petitus sit uel qui non sine dolo malo in libertate moratus est: qui uero per calumniam petitus in seruitutem est, in militia retinebitur.
And even if he should appear to be free, he shall be discharged, that is, removed from the military service and expelled from the camp, especially one who was claimed from slavery into freedom, or who has remained in a state of freedom not without malice; but he who was claimed into slavery through calumny shall be retained in the military service.
§40.12.29.1Qui ingenuus pronuntiatus est, si se militiae dedit, intra quinquennium retractata sententia nouo domino reddendus est.
He who has been pronounced freeborn, if he has entered the military service, must, if the judgment is reversed within five years, be restored to his new master.

Notes

  1. §40.12.29.prnecdum sententia data — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun `sententia` and the perfect participle `data`. Accompanying the conjunction `necdum` ('and not yet'), it indicates the temporal or situational background to the main verb `dedit`, meaning 'while judgment had not yet been rendered.'
  2. §40.12.29.prquod pro libero habeatur in quibusdam — A noun clause introduced by the conjunction `quod` which serves as the subject of the verb `exonerat`. `in quibusdam` is an adverbial use of the neuter plural ablative (in quibusdam rebus/casibus), meaning 'in certain respects' or 'in some cases.'
  3. §40.12.29.prnon sine dolo malo — A litotes combining the negation `non` with the preposition `sine` ('without') governing the ablative. 'Not without malice' thus functions to emphasize 'with clear malice' (or fraudulent intent) regarding the person's remaining in a state of freedom.
  4. §40.12.29.1retractata sententia — An ablative absolute formed by the noun `sententia` and the perfect participle `retractata`. Here it expresses a conditional force, meaning 'if the judgment is reversed' or 'in the event that the sentence is revoked.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.12.29.pr-40.12.29.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.12.29.pr-40.12.29.1

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