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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.2.5.pr

Manumission by a Presiding Magistrate Before Himself

Passage 6325 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Addressing the question of whether a magistrate presiding over a council can manumit his own slave before himself, Julianus states that it is possible, citing the precedent of his teacher Iavolenus and his own practice.

[IULIANUS eodem libro. ] §40.2.5.prAn apud se manumittere possit is qui consilium praebeat, saepe quaesitum est.
[JULIANUS, in the same book.] Whether he who provides the council can manumit before himself has often been questioned.
ego, qui meminissem Iauolenum praeceptorem meum et in Africa et in Syria seruos suos manumississe, cum consilium praeberet, exemplum eius secutus et in praetura et consulatu meo quosdam ex seruis meis uindicta liberaui et quibusdam praetoribus consulentibus me idem suasi.
I, who remembered that my teacher Iavolenus had manumitted his own slaves both in Africa and in Syria when he was providing the council, followed his example and, both in my praetorship and my consulship, liberated some of my slaves by the vindicta, and advised the same to certain praetors who consulted me.

Notes

  1. §40.2.5.prapud se — Meaning 'before himself'. It refers to a magistrate (such as a praetor) who conducts the manumission ceremony using his own authority to free his own slave. Because manumission belongs to voluntary jurisdiction (jurisdictio voluntaria), this acts as an exception to the rule that one cannot exercise jurisdiction over oneself.
  2. §40.2.5.prconsilium praebeat — Meaning 'provides the council'. In Roman law, it refers to a magistrate summoning and presiding over an advisory council (consilium) for legal examinations, such as the approval of manumissions by owners under twenty years of age under the lex Aelia Sentia.
  3. §40.2.5.prqui meminissem — Pluperfect subjunctive introduced by the relative pronoun qui. It expresses a causal relation ('since I remembered') to the main verb liberaui.
  4. §40.2.5.prquibusdam praetoribus consulentibus me — The dative quibusdam praetoribus is modified by the present participle consulentibus (here identical in form to the dative). It serves as the indirect object of the verb suasi ('I advised'), meaning 'to certain praetors who consulted me'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.2.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.2.5.pr

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