Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.7.42.pr

Manumission of a Bequeathed Slave upon a Wife's Remarriage

Passage 6513 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses a case where a slave is bequeathed to a wife with a condition that the slave becomes free when she remarries, stating that the slave will indeed become free if she marries legally.

[LABEO libro tertio pithanon. ] §40.7.42.prSi quis eundem hominem uxori suae legauerit et, cum ea nupsisset, liberum esse iusserit et ea ex lege nupserit, liber fiet is homo.

[LABEO, from the third book of Plausible Truths.] If anyone bequeaths the same slave to his wife, and orders that he be free when she marries, and she marries in accordance with the law, that slave will become free.

Notes

40.7.42.prcum ea nupsisset — The pronoun ea is the nominative feminine singular referring to the testator's wife (uxori suae). The verb nupsisset (pluperfect subjunctive of nubo, 'to marry', used of a woman) refers to her remarrying after the testator's death. The pluperfect subjunctive represents a completed action prior to the liberation ordered, as viewed from the past.
40.7.42.prex lege — 'In accordance with the law.' This refers to the Augustan marriage legislation (such as the Lex Iulia et Papia Poppaea), indicating that she entered into a legally valid marriage that satisfied all statutory requirements.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.7.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.7.42.pr

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