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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.26.pr

Legacies to Substituted Slaves and Imputed Freedom

Passage 6374 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that the Divine Pius and his imperial brothers issued a rescript stating that a legacy left to a slave substituted with freedom, should he fail to become the heir, must be treated as if freedom had been explicitly added, even if it was not.

[MARCIANUS libro primo regularum. ] §40.4.26.prDiuus Pius et diui fratres fauorabiliter rescripserunt, cum seruo cum libertate substituto legatum erat, si heres non esset, non adscripta libertate, perinde haberi, atque si adscripta esset libertas.
[MARCIANUS in the first book of Rules.] The Divine Pius and the Divine Brothers issued a favorable rescript that, when a legacy had been left to a slave who was substituted with his freedom, in the event that he should not be the heir, even though freedom was not written in, it should be treated just as if freedom had been written in.

Notes

  1. §40.4.26.prcum seruo cum libertate substituto — The first `cum` is a temporal or conditional conjunction ("when" or "if"), while the second `cum` is the preposition denoting accompaniment ("with freedom"). `substituto` is the perfect passive participle in the dative modifying `seruo`, referring to the designation as a substitute heir (substitutio).
  2. §40.4.26.prnon adscripta libertate — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun `libertate` and the participle `adscripta` (negated by `non`). It expresses a concessive nuance ("although freedom was not written in").
  3. §40.4.26.prperinde haberi, atque si adscripta esset libertas — `haberi` is the passive infinitive in the indirect speech (accusative with infinitive) governed by `rescripserunt`. Its implied subject is the neuter `legatum` (the legacy), meaning "the legacy should be treated in the same manner as...". `atque si` introduces a counterfactual conditional clause with the pluperfect subjunctive `adscripta esset` ("just as if... had been...").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.26.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.26.pr

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