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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.7.14.pr-40.7.14.1

Wages and Period of Flight Excluded from Conditions

Passage 6485 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses how a slave granted conditional freedom cannot count wages paid for services toward the payment required for freedom, and that if service for a specified period is the condition for freedom, any period of flight must be made up after returning.

[ALFENUS UARUS libro quarto digestorum. ] §40.7.14.prSeruus, qui testamento domini, cum decem heredi dedisset, liber esse iussus erat, heredi mercedem referre pro operis suis solebat: cum ex mercede heres amplius decem recepisset, seruus liberum esse aiebat: de ea re consulebatur.
[ALFENUS UARUS, from the fourth book of the digests.] A slave, who by the testament of his master had been ordered to be free when he had given ten to the heir, was accustomed to pay a wage to the heir for his services: when from this wage the heir had received more than ten, the slave asserted that he was free: advice was sought on this matter.
respondit non uideri liberum esse: non enim pro libertate, sed pro operis eam pecuniam dedisse nec magis ob eam rem liberum esse, quam si fundum a domino conduxisset et pro fructu fundi pecuniam dedisset.
He replied that he did not seem to be free: for he had given that money not for freedom, but for his services, and that he was no more free on account of this matter than if he had leased a farm from his master and had given money for the fruit of the farm.
§40.7.14.1Seruus cum heredi annorum septem operas dedisset, liber esse iussus erat: is seruus fugerat et annum in fuga fecerat.
A slave had been ordered to be free when he had given services of seven years to the heir: this slave had fled and spent a year in flight.
cum septem anni praeterissent, respondit non esse liberum: non enim fugitiuum operas domino dedisse: quare nisi totidem dies, quot afuisset, seruisset, non fore liberum.
When seven years had passed, he replied that he was not free: for a fugitive had not given services to his master: therefore, unless he served for just as many days as he had been absent, he would not be free.
sed et si ita scriptum esset, ut tum liber esset, cum septem annis seruisset, potuisse liberum esse, si tempus fugae reuersus seruisset.
But even if it had been written thus, that he should be free when he had served for seven years, he could have been free if, having returned, he had served for the time of his flight.

Notes

  1. §40.7.14.prnec magis ob eam rem liberum esse, quam si... — The comparative construction 'nec magis... quam si' with the following subjunctive expresses a hypothetical comparison meaning 'no more free... than if', which functions as a strong negative analogy. It explains that paying for one's own labor is essentially different from paying the condition of ten for freedom.
  2. §40.7.14.1nisi totidem dies, quot afuisset, seruisset, non fore liberum — A conditional sentence in indirect speech (oratio obliqua). The direct future perfect condition (nisi seruieris, non eris liber) is subordinated to the past verb 'respondit', shifting the condition into the pluperfect subjunctive ('seruisset') and the conclusion into the future infinitive ('non fore liberum'). 'afuisset' is also in the pluperfect subjunctive due to the subordinate nature of the clause.
  3. §40.7.14.1potuisse liberum esse — The apodosis of a past counterfactual (or past potentiality) condition in indirect speech. In direct speech, potentiality or counterfactual conditions with verbs of ability or obligation are expressed with the perfect indicative ('potuit liber esse'), which becomes the perfect infinitive 'potuisse' in indirect discourse.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.7.14.pr-40.7.14.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.7.14.pr-40.7.14.1

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