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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.7.2.pr-40.7.2.4

Commencement and Legal Effects of Statuliber Status

Passage 6472 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains the establishment of the status of a statuliber upon entry into inheritance and its legal treatment, discussing complex cases involving pupillary wills and substitutions.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto ad Sabinum. ] §40.7.2.prQui statuliberi causam adprehendit, in ea condicione est, ut, siue tradatur, salua spe libertatis alienetur, siue usucapiatur, cum sua causa usucapiatur, siue manumittatur, non perdat spem orcini liberti.
[ULPIANUS in the fourth book on Sabinus.] He who has acquired the status of a statuliber is in such a position that, if he is delivered, he is alienated with the hope of his freedom preserved; if he is acquired by usucapion, he is acquired with his status intact; or if he is manumitted, he does not lose the hope of becoming an orcinus libertus.
sed statuliberi causam non prius seruus nanciscitur nisi adita uel ab uno ex institutis hereditate: ceterum ante aditionem siue tradetur siue usucapietur siue manumittetur, spes statutae libertatis intercidit.
But a slave does not acquire the status of a statuliber until the inheritance has been entered upon by at least one of the appointed heirs; otherwise, before the entry, whether he is delivered, acquired by usucapion, or manumitted, the hope of the established freedom perishes.
§40.7.2.1Sed si impuberis tabulis libertas seruo sit adscripta, an uiuo pupillo, post aditionem uidelicet hereditatis patris, statuliber sit?
But if freedom is bequeathed to a slave in the pupillary tablets of an impubes, is he a statuliber while the pupil is still living, namely after the entry upon the father’s inheritance?
§40.7.2.2Cassius negat: Iulianus contra existimat, quae sententia uerior habetur.
Cassius says no; Julian, on the contrary, thinks he is, and this opinion is held to be more correct.
§40.7.2.3Plus scripsit Iulianus et si legatus sit seruus ab herede patris, liber esse iussus in pupillaribus tabulis, praeualere libertatis dationem.
Julian wrote further that even if the slave is bequeathed as a legacy by the father’s heir, having been ordered to be free in the pupillary tablets, the grant of freedom prevails.
Si primis tabulis sub condicione seruus cum libertate ex parte dimidia heres sit institutus, an statuliberi causam optineat, ut adeunte coherede cum sua causa usucapiatur? cum a semetipso acceperit libertatem, non potest statuliberi causam optinere.
If a slave is appointed heir to a half share with freedom under a condition in the first tablets, does he obtain the status of a statuliber so that, when his co-heir enters, he is acquired by usucapion with his status intact? Since he would receive his freedom from himself, he cannot obtain the status of a statuliber.
plane si condicio hereditatis deficiat, quo casu secundum Iulianum uel libertatem apiscitur, dicendum est statuliberi causam optinere, eo quod non a semetipso, sed a coherede accepisse libertatem creditur.
Clearly, if the condition of the inheritance fails, in which case according to Julian he indeed obtains freedom, it must be said that he obtains the status of a statuliber, because he is considered to have received his freedom not from himself, but from the co-heir.
§40.7.2.4Quocumque gradu pupillo seruus cum libertate substitutus sit, necessarii causam optinet: quae sententia utilitatis causa recepta est et a nobis probatur.
In whatever degree a slave is substituted with freedom to a pupil, he obtains the status of a necessary heir; which opinion has been received for the sake of utility and is approved by us.
Celsus quoque putat libro quinto decimo cum libertate substitutum statuliberi causam optinere.
Celsus also thinks in his fifteenth book that one substituted with freedom obtains the status of a statuliber.

Notes

  1. §40.7.2.prnon prius... nisi — A double negative structure ('non prius... nisi') meaning 'not... until' or 'only when'. Here, the ablative absolute construction 'adita uel ab uno ex institutis hereditate' (the inheritance being entered upon by at least one appointed heir) is governed by 'nisi', indicating that the entry into inheritance is an absolute prerequisite for a slave to acquire the status of a statuliber.
  2. §40.7.2.1uiuo pupillo — An ablative absolute construction with the adjective 'uiuus' ('while the pupil is alive'), establishing the temporal context within the hypothetical scenario. It qualifies the main interrogative verb 'statuliber sit?'.
  3. §40.7.2.3Plus scripsit Iulianus et si legatus sit seruus ab herede patris, liber esse iussus in pupillaribus tabulis, praeualere libertatis dationem — The skeleton of the sentence consists of the main clause 'Plus scripsit Iulianus' governing the accusative with infinitive (AcI) 'praeualere libertatis dationem' as its object. It is interrupted by the conditional clause 'et si legatus sit seruus...' and the modifying participle phrase 'liber esse iussus in pupillaribus tabulis' which qualifies 'seruus'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.7.2.pr-40.7.2.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.7.2.pr-40.7.2.4

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