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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.17.pr-40.4.17.2

Invalid Postponement and Conditions in Manumission

Passage 6365 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the interpretation of ineffective conditions on freedom, conditional phrases in manumission, and the timeline for freedom granted "after years" without a specific number.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo secundo digestorum. ] §40.4.17.prLibertas, quae in ultimum uitae tempus confertur, ueluti 'Stichus cum morietur, liber esto', nullius momenti existimanda est.
[THE SAME in the forty-second book of the Digests.] Freedom which is deferred to the last moment of life, such as 'When Stichus dies, let him be free,' must be considered of no effect.
Haec autem scriptura 'Stichus si Capitolium non ascenderit, liber esto ' ita accipienda est 'si cum primum potuerit, Capitolium non ascenderit': isto enim modo perueniet Stichus ad libertatem, si facultate data ascendendi Capitolium abstinuerit.
On the other hand, this phrasing 'If Stichus does not ascend the Capitol, let him be free' must be understood as follows: 'if, when he first is able, he does not ascend the Capitol'; for in this way Stichus will arrive at freedom, if, when the opportunity of ascending is given, he refrains from the Capitol.
§40.4.17.1Hac scriptura testamenti 'Pamphilus liber esto, ita ut filiis meis rationem reddat' an sub condicione libertas data uideretur, quaesitum est.
By this phrasing of a testament, 'Let Pamphilus be free, provided that he renders an account to my children,' it was asked whether freedom was deemed to have been given under a condition.
respondi pure quidem datam libertatem et illam adiectionem 'ita ut rationes reddat' condicionem libertati non inicere: tamen quia manifesta uoluntas testantis exprimeretur, cogendum eum ad rationes reddendas.
I replied that freedom was indeed given unconditionally, and that the addition 'provided that he renders an account' does not impose a condition upon the freedom; nevertheless, because the manifest will of the testator is expressed, he must be compelled to render the account.
§40.4.17.2Post annos indistincte liber esse iussus post biennium liber erit: idque et fauor libertatis exigit, et uerba patiuntur: nisi si aliud sensisse patrem familias manifestissimis rationibus is, a quo libertas relicta est, probauerit.
A person who is ordered to be free 'after years' without specification will be free after two years; and this both the favor of freedom demands, and the words permit, unless the person by whom the freedom was bequeathed proves by the clearest reasons that the head of the household intended something else.

Notes

  1. §40.4.17.prnullius momenti — A genitive of quality/value used predicatively to mean "of no weight/force", i.e., "void".
  2. §40.4.17.1cogendum eum — An accusative-and-infinitive construction with the passive periphrastic infinitive (with "esse" omitted), depending on "respondi". "eum" is the subject accusative, and "ad rationes reddendas" is the preposition "ad" with a gerundive construction expressing purpose or obligation.
  3. §40.4.17.2is, a quo libertas relicta est — The subject of the conditional clause "nisi si", modified by the relative clause "a quo...". It literally means "the one by whom freedom was left [bequeathed]", referring to the heir or person burdened with the duty of executing the manumission.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.17.pr-40.4.17.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.17.pr-40.4.17.2

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