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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.8.5.pr

Status of Slaves Freed for Exposing Master's Murder

Passage 6518 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It states that a slave who receives freedom as a reward for exposing the murder of his master becomes an orcinus freedman.

[MARCIANUS libro quinto regularum. ] §40.8.5.prQui ob necem detectam domini praemium libertatis consequitur, fit orcinus libertus.
[MARCIAN, from the fifth book of Rules] He who obtains the reward of freedom on account of having disclosed the murder of his master, becomes an orcinus freedman.

Notes

  1. §40.8.5.prob necem detectam domini — The accusative noun necem governed by the preposition ob, combined with the perfect participle detectam acting adjectivally, forms the so-called 'ab urbe condita' construction, meaning 'on account of the disclosure of the master's murder'.
  2. §40.8.5.prorcinus libertus — Literally 'a freedman of Orcus (the underworld)'. It refers to a slave who was manumitted after the death of the master (by testament or as a legal reward, as in this case) and therefore has no living patron.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.8.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.8.5.pr

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