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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.2.19.pr

Status of a Child Born Pending Manumission by a Minor Master

Passage 6339 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses the pending status of a child born during the process where a master under twenty years of age manumits a pregnant female slave for the purpose of marriage.

[CELSUS libro uicensimo nono digestorum. ] §40.2.19.prSi minor annis apud consilium matrimonii causa praegnatem manumiserit eaque interim pepererit, in pendenti erit, seruus an liber sit, quem ea peperit.
[CELSUS, in the twenty-ninth book of the Digests.] If a person under twenty years of age, for the purpose of marriage, manumits a pregnant female slave before the council, and she in the meantime gives birth, it will remain in suspense whether the child she has brought forth is a slave or free.

Notes

  1. §40.2.19.prminor annis — Meaning "under twenty years of age" (minor viginti annis). Under the Lex Aelia Sentia, for a master under twenty years of age to validly manumit a slave, approval of a just cause (iusta causa) by a council (consilium) was required. Here, "for the purpose of marriage" (matrimonii causa) serves as that just cause.
  2. §40.2.19.prin pendenti — The neuter singular of the present participle pendens used substantively with the preposition in. This idiomatic expression meaning "in suspense" or "pending" describes a state of legal uncertainty, because the child's status at birth depends on the subsequent approval of the council and the realization of the marriage.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.2.19.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.2.19.pr

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