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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.14.3.pr-40.14.3.1

Scope of Recognized Birth and Return of Patronal Property

Passage 6617 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius explains that the expression 'recognition of birth' in the senate resolution applies only to the freeborn, and that the word 'leave' implies that even property granted or gifted by manumitters must be restored.

[POMPONIUS libro quinto senatus consultorum. ] §40.14.3.prHoc sermone 'adgnitis natalibus' de nullis aliis intellegendum est senatum sensisse quam ingenuis.
[POMPONIUS, in the Fifth Book on Senate Resolutions.] By this expression 'having recognized their free birth', it must be understood that the senate meant no other persons than those who are freeborn.
§40.14.3.1Uerbo autem 'relinquerent' etiam hoc intellegendum est, ut quaecumque ex re eius, a quo manumissi erant, adquisita habeant, restituant.
Moreover, by the word 'they should leave (behind)', this also must be understood, that they are to restore whatever they have acquired and hold from the property of the person by whom they had been manumitted.
sed id quemadmodum accipiendum sit, uidendum est, utrumne quae ignorantibus dominis abstulissent, item quod ex his adquisitum, reddere debeant, an uero etiam concessa et donata a manumissoribus amplexi sint: quod magis est.
But it must be considered how this is to be interpreted: whether they ought to return what they had taken away without the knowledge of their masters, as well as what was acquired from these things, or whether indeed they also embrace what was conceded and gifted by their manumitters; which latter view is more correct.

Notes

  1. §40.14.3.prde nullis aliis intellegendum est senatum sensisse quam ingenuis — 'de nullis aliis... quam ingenuis' means 'about no others than the freeborn'. 'ingenuis' functions as an ablative corresponding to 'de nullis aliis' after 'quam'. 'sensisse' (from 'sentire') with 'de' means 'to intend' or 'to mean'.
  2. §40.14.3.1ut quaecumque ex re eius, a quo manumissi erant, adquisita habeant, restituant — The 'ut... restituant' clause is a noun clause explaining the preceding 'hoc' in apposition. 'adquisita habeant' (the neuter plural accusative perfect participle with 'habeant', the subjunctive present third-person plural of 'habeo') is a periphrastic expression denoting a completed state of possession ('they have acquired and keep') or a double predicative meaning ('they hold things that have been acquired').
  3. §40.14.3.1an uero etiam concessa et donata a manumissoribus amplexi sint — 'amplexi sint' is the third-person plural perfect subjunctive of the deponent verb 'amplector' (to embrace, include). The subject is contextually the 'manumissi' (the freed persons), who are the subject of 'relinquerent', or it could be understood as the provisions of the senate resolution itself. Grammatically, it is most natural to interpret it in the active sense: 'whether they also have included (among the things to be returned) even what was conceded and gifted by their manumitters.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.14.3.pr-40.14.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.14.3.pr-40.14.3.1

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