Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.39.pr

Invalidity of Freedom Conditioned on the Heir's Alienation

Passage 6387 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In the grant of freedom by a will, making freedom conditional upon the heir's alienation of the slave is invalid, which is explained through the status of a conditionally free slave and a comparison with legacies.

[IDEM libro sexto decimo ad Plautium. ] §40.4.39.pr'Stichus seruus meus, si eum heres alienauerit, liber esto': inutiliter libertas datur, quia in id tempus confertur, quo alienus futurus sit.

[THE SAME in the sixteenth book on Plautius.] "My slave Stichus, if the heir shall have alienated him, let him be free": freedom is granted ineffectively, because it is referred to that time at which he is to be another's.

nec contrarium est, quod statuliber, etiamsi uenierit, ex testamento libertatem consequitur: quippe utiliter libertas data facto heredis non peremitur.

Nor is it contradictory that a conditionally free slave, even if he has been sold, obtains freedom from the will; for freedom effectively granted is not destroyed by an act of the heir.

aut quid in legato eo modo dato dicemus? diuersum enim nulla ratione dicetur: nam inter libertatem et legatum, quantum ad hanc causam, nihil distat.

Or what shall we say in the case of a legacy given in that manner? For a different thing will be said on no rationale; for between freedom and a legacy, as far as this cause is concerned, there is no difference.

igitur nec sic recte dabitur libertas 'si heredis mei esse desierit, liber esto', quia nullum casum utilem habet.

Therefore, neither will freedom be rightly granted in this way, "if he shall have ceased to belong to my heir, let him be free," because it has no effective case.

Notes

§40.4.39.prconfertur — The verb conferre here means to direct or refer the effect (of the grant of freedom) to a specific time. In id tempus indicates the direction, which is defined by the following quo clause as "the time when he is to belong to another."
§40.4.39.prquod statuliber, etiamsi uenierit, ex testamento libertatem consequitur — The quod clause functions as a noun clause (subject of the main clause, balancing with contrarium). A statuliber is a conditionally free slave whose future freedom is granted by a will subject to a condition. Even if such a slave is sold (uenierit) by the heir, he still obtains freedom from the will once the condition is met.
§40.4.39.prquantum ad hanc causam — An idiomatic expression meaning "as far as this case/cause is concerned." The preposition ad here means "with respect to" or "as regards," limiting the scope in combination with the adverbial quantum.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.39.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.39.pr

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