Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.42.pr

Right to Claim Freedom Bequeathed to Another's Freedman

Passage 6390 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses that if freedom is bequeathed by designating a slave as the freedman of a third party, both the slave and that third party have the right to petition for the realization of the freedom.

[MARCELLUS libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §40.4.42.prSi quis ita scripserit 'illum illius libertum esse uolo', et seruus libertatem petere potest et ille, ut habeat libertum.
[MARCELLUS in the sixteenth book of the Digests.] If anyone shall have written thus: 'I wish that man to be the freedman of that other man', both the slave can petition for freedom, and that other man [can do so], so that he may have a freedman.

Notes

  1. §40.4.42.pret ille, ut habeat libertum — The second part of the correlative construction 'et... et...' (both... and...). After 'et ille', the preceding verbal phrase 'petere potest' is omitted. The clause 'ut habeat libertum' is a subjunctive purpose clause, explaining that the third party (ille / illius) can exercise the right to petition 'in order that he may have a freedman' (i.e., acquire the status of a patron).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.42.pr

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