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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.8.4.pr

Acquisition of Freedom upon Buyer's Death

Passage 6517 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is established that a slave bought under the condition of being manumitted by the buyer during his lifetime immediately gains freedom upon the buyer's death.

[ULPIANUS libro tertio ad Sabinum. ] §40.8.4.prEi, qui hac lege emptus sit, ut a uiuo emptore manumittatur, statim mortuo eo competit libertas.
[ULPIAN, from the third book on Sabinus.] A person who has been purchased on the condition that he should be manumitted by the buyer during his lifetime, immediately acquires freedom upon the death of the latter.

Notes

  1. §40.8.4.prhac lege, ut — The noun lex here does not refer to a general statute, but to a "condition" or "provision" of a contract of sale. The ut clause (with the subjunctive manumittatur) functions as an appositional noun clause explaining the specific content of this lege.
  2. §40.8.4.prmortuo eo — An ablative absolute construction (noun mortuo and pronoun eo). The pronoun eo refers back to the buyer (emptore). It indicates that when the original condition of being manumitted by the living buyer becomes impossible due to his death, freedom (libertas) is automatically granted by operation of law.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.8.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.8.4.pr

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