Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.13.1.pr-40.13.1.1

Limits on Freedom Claims After Voluntary Sale and Minors

Passage 6610 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage explains the restriction on claiming freedom for individuals over twenty who allowed themselves to be sold, and the exceptions applied to those under twenty.

[ULPIANUS libro secundo de officio proconsulis. ] §40.13.1.prMaiores uiginti annis ita demum ad libertatem proclamare non possunt, si pretium ad ipsum qui ueniit peruenerit: ex ceteris autem causis, quamuis maior uiginti annis se uenum dari passus sit, ad libertatem ei proclamare licet.
[ULPIANUS, in the second book on the Office of Proconsul.] Those who are over twenty years of age are prevented from claiming their freedom only if the price has reached the very person who was sold; but on all other grounds, although a person over twenty years of age has allowed himself to be sold, he is permitted to claim his freedom.
§40.13.1.1Minori autem uiginti annis ne quidem ex causa supra scripta debet denegari libertatis proclamatio, nisi maior annis uiginti factus durauit in seruitute: tunc enim si pretium partitus sit, dicendum erit denegari ei debere libertatis proclamationem.
However, to a person under twenty years of age, the claim for freedom ought not to be denied even on the ground written above, unless, having become over twenty years of age, he remained in slavery; for in that case, if he shared in the price, it must be said that the claim for freedom ought to be denied to him.

Notes

  1. §40.13.1.prueniit — A spelling variant of `venit` (or `veniit`), the third-person singular perfect (or present) indicative of the irregular verb `veneo` ("to be sold"). Although active in form, it has a passive meaning. The relative clause `qui ueniit` means "the one who was sold."
  2. §40.13.1.prita demum ... si — A correlative construction indicating a restrictive condition, meaning "only if..." or "solely in the event that...". Combined with the negative `non possunt` in the main clause, it establishes a restricted prohibition: they cannot claim freedom *only* under this specific condition.
  3. §40.13.1.1dicendum erit denegari ei debere — An impersonal gerundive construction `dicendum erit` ("it will have to be said") leading an accusative-and-infinitival clause where `libertatis proclamationem` is the subject accusative and `debere` is the infinitive, which in turn governs the passive infinitive `denegari` ("to be denied").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.13.1.pr-40.13.1.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.13.1.pr-40.13.1.1

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.