Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.16.1.pr

Senatorial Decree on Preventing Collusion for Freedom

Passage 6625 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is explained that during the reign of Domitian, a senate decree was passed to prevent masters from colluding with slaves to falsely obtain freeborn status, granting ownership of the slave to whoever detected the collusion.

[GAIUS libro secundo ad edictum praetoris urbani titulo de liberali causa. ] §40.16.1.prNe quorundam dominorum erga seruos nimia indulgentia inquinaret amplissimum ordinem eo, quod paterentur seruos suos in ingenuitatem proclamare liberosque iudicari, senatus consultum factum est Domitiani temporibus, quo cautum est, ut, si quis probasset per collusionem quicquam factum, si iste homo seruus sit, fieret eius seruus qui detexisset collusionem.
[GAIUS, in the second book on the Edict of the Urban Praetor, under the title "On Liberty Suits".] Lest the excessive indulgence of certain masters toward their slaves should defile the most distinguished order by the fact that they permitted their slaves to claim freeborn status and to be judged free, a senate decree was passed in the times of Domitian, in which it was provided that, if anyone should prove that anything was done through collusion, if that man indeed be a slave, he should become the slave of him who had detected the collusion.

Notes

  1. §40.16.1.preo, quod — The ablative demonstrative eo in apposition with the quod clause, explaining the means or cause of the preceding verb inquinaret ('should defile') and meaning 'by the fact that they permitted'.
  2. §40.16.1.prin ingenuitatem proclamare — Meaning literally 'to cry out toward freeborn status,' this is a technical legal expression referring to bringing a suit to assert one's status as a freeborn person (ingenuus).
  3. §40.16.1.prfieret eius seruus — The verb fieret is the imperfect subjunctive in the apodosis within the ut clause (due to sequence of tenses). The pronoun eius is the genitive antecedent of the relative pronoun qui, meaning 'he should become the slave of him who...'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.16.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.16.1.pr

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.