[ULPIANUS libro quarto de adulteriis. ] §40.9.12.prProspexit legis lator, ne mancipia per manumissionem quaestioni subducantur, idcircoque prohibuit ea manumitti certumque diem praestituit, intra quem manumittere non liceat.
[ULPIANUS, from the fourth book on Adultery.] The legislator took precautions lest slaves be withdrawn from examination through manumission, and for that reason he prohibited them from being manumitted and established a fixed period within which it is not permitted to manumit.
§40.9.12.1Ipsa igitur quae diuertit omnes omnimodo seruos suos manumittere uel alienare prohibetur, quia ita uerba faciunt, ut ne eum quidem seruum, qui extra ministerium eius mulieris fuit uel in agro uel in prouincia, possit manumittere uel alienare: quod quidem perquam durum est, sed ita lex scripta est.
Therefore, the woman herself who has divorced is prohibited from manumitting or alienating all her slaves in any manner; for the words of the law operate in such a way that she cannot manumit or alienate even a slave who was outside the service of that woman, whether in the country or in a province. This indeed is extremely harsh, but so the law is written.
§40.9.12.2Sed et si post diuortium seruum mulier parauit aut alia ratione adquisiit, aeque, quod ad uerba attinet, manumittere non poterit: et ita Sextus quoque Caecilius adnotat.
But even if, after the divorce, the woman purchased or by some other means acquired a slave, equally, as far as the words of the law are concerned, she will not be able to manumit him; and Sextus Caecilius also notes this.
§40.9.12.3Pater uero in cuius potestate filia fuerit, ea tantum mancipia prohibetur manumittere alienareue, quae in usu filiae fuerunt tributa.
But the father in whose power the daughter was is prohibited from manumitting or alienating only those slaves who had been assigned for the use of the daughter.
§40.9.12.4Matrem quoque prohibuit manumittere alienareue ea mancipia, quae in ministerium filiae concesserat.
The law also prohibited the mother from manumitting or alienating those slaves whom she had granted for the service of her daughter.
§40.9.12.5Sed et auum et auiam prohibuit manumittere, cum horum quoque mancipia quaestione postulari posse lex uoluerit.
But it also prohibited the grandfather and grandmother from manumitting them, since the law willed that their slaves too could be demanded for examination.
§40.9.12.6Sextus Caecilius recte ait angustissimum tempus legem praestitisse alienandis manumittendisue seruis.
Sextus Caecilius rightly says that the law established an extremely narrow period for alienating or manumitting slaves.
finge, inquit, ream adulterii intra sexagesimum diem postulatam: quae cognitio tam facile expediri potuit adulterii, ut intra sexagesimum diem finiatur? et tamen licere mulieri quamuis postulatae adulterii seruum suspectum in adulterio uel quaestioni necessarium, quod ad uerba legis attinet, manumittere.
"Imagine," he says, "that a woman accused of adultery is prosecuted within sixty days: what trial for adultery can be dispatched so easily that it is finished within sixty days? And yet, as far as the words of the law are concerned, it is permitted for a woman, although prosecuted for adultery, to manumit a slave suspected of adultery or necessary for examination.
sane in hunc casum subueniendum est, ut destinati serui quasi conscii uel quasi nocentes non debeant manumitti ante finitam cognitionem. §40.9.12.7Pater mulieris uel mater, si intra sexagesimum diem decedant, ex his seruis, quos in ministerium filiae dederint, neque manumittere neque alienare poterunt.
Surely, in this case, relief must be provided, so that slaves designated as if they were accomplices or guilty should not be manumitted before the trial is finished." If the father or mother of the woman dies within sixty days, they will not be able to either manumit or alienate from among those slaves whom they had given for the service of their daughter.