Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.38.pr

Form of Will Enfranchisement Conditioned on Legal Allowance

Passage 6386 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Presents the formulaic wording for granting freedom to a slave in a will under the condition "when it shall be permitted by the laws."

[IDEM libro duodecimo ad Plautium. ] §40.4.38.prLibertas testamento seruo ita dari potest: 'cum per leges licebit, liber esto'.
[THE SAME in the twelfth book on Plautius.] Freedom can be granted to a slave by a will in this way: "When it shall be permitted by the laws, let him be free."

Notes

  1. §40.4.38.presto — The future imperative (third-person singular) of the irregular verb esse, used in legal declarations such as wills to issue a definitive and binding instruction.
  2. §40.4.38.prcum per leges licebit — The verb licebit in the cum clause is the future indicative (third-person singular) of the impersonal verb licet, indicating a future legal permission as a conditional trigger.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.38.pr

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