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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.49.pr

Direct Manumission via Irregular Wording in a Soldier's Will

Passage 6397 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A case holding that a woman manumitted in a soldier's testament with irregular wording acquired direct freedom due to military privilege.

[IDEM libro sexto responsorum. ] §40.4.49.prTestamento militis ita manumissam 'Samiam in libertate esse iussi' directam libertatem iure militiae cepisse placuit.
[THE SAME AUTHOR in the sixth book of Opinions.] It was held that a woman manumitted in the testament of a soldier in this manner, "I have ordered Samia to be in freedom," acquired direct freedom by military law.

Notes

  1. §40.4.49.prmanumissam ... cepisse — This is an accusative and infinitive construction acting as the subject of the impersonal verb `placuit` ("it was held"). `manumissam` (the manumitted woman) is the subject accusative, `cepisse` is the infinitive, and `directam libertatem` is its object.
  2. §40.4.49.priure militiae — Meaning "by military law" (or "by military privilege"). Soldiers enjoyed special legal privileges regarding the form and substance of their testaments, allowing them to grant direct freedom without using the strict verbal formulas required of ordinary citizens.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.49.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.49.pr

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