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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.12.3.pr-40.12.3.3

Freedom Suits Brought by Soldiers and Female Relatives

Passage 6568 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the privileges of blood relatives and soldiers to initiate liberty suits on behalf of certain persons, and explains the procedure where female relatives may approach the praetor to grant relief to someone even against their will.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagensimo quarto ad edictum. ] §40.12.3.prAmplius puto naturalibus quoque hoc idem praestandum, ut parens filium in seruitute quaesitum et manumissum possit in libertatem uindicare.
[ULPIANUS on the Edict, Book Fifty-Four.] Furthermore, I think that this same thing should be granted to natural relatives as well, so that a parent can claim into freedom a son who was acquired in slavery and then manumitted.
§40.12.3.1Militi etiam pro necessariis sibi personis de libertate litigare permittitur.
A soldier also is permitted to litigate concerning freedom on behalf of persons closely related to him.
§40.12.3.2Cum uero talis nemo alius est, qui pro eo litiget, tunc necessarium est dari facultatem etiam matri uel filiabus uel sororibus eius ceterisque mulieribus quae de cognatione sunt uel etiam uxori adire praetorem et hoc indicare, ut causa cognita et inuito ei succurratur.
But when there is no other such person to litigate on his behalf, then it is necessary that the opportunity be given even to his mother, daughters, sisters, and other women who are of his cognate kin, or even to his wife, to approach the praetor and point this out, so that, after the case has been examined, relief may be granted to him even against his will.
§40.12.3.3Sed et si libertum meum uel libertam dicam, idem erit dicendum.
But also if I should assert that someone is my freedman or freedwoman, the same must be said.

Notes

  1. §40.12.3.prnaturalibus — Refers to "natural" or blood relatives as opposed to those legally related through civil law. It functions here as a dative of advantage with the gerundive praestandum, indicating that the same privilege should be granted to blood relatives.
  2. §40.12.3.2inuito ei succurratur — Since succurrere is an intransitive verb governing the dative, its passive is used impersonally (succurratur). Its dative complement is the pronoun ei, modified by the adjective inuito ("unwilling"), meaning "so that relief may be granted to him even against his will."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.12.3.pr-40.12.3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.12.3.pr-40.12.3.3

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