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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.9.9.pr-40.9.9.2

Slaves Ineligible for Freedom Due to Duress or Bans

Passage 6531 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text details instances where slaves cannot attain freedom despite manumission, specifically those who extorted freedom by force, those undefended by their masters in capital trials, and those barred from manumission by contracts, wills, or gubernatorial orders.

[MARCIANUS libro primo institutionum. ] §40.9.9.prIlle seruus liber non erit, qui ui coegerit, ut eum dominus manumittat, et ille perterritus scripsit liberum eum esse.
[MARCIANUS, from the first book of Institutes.] That slave will not be free who has compelled his master by force to manumit him, and the master, terrified, has written that he is free.
§40.9.9.1Item nec ille liber fieri potest, qui a domino non est defensus in capitali crimine posteaque absolutus est.
Likewise, neither can he become free who has not been defended by his master in a capital charge and has afterwards been acquitted.
§40.9.9.2Qui hac lege uenierint, ne manumittantur, uel qui testamento prohibiti sint manumitti uel iussu praesidis prouinciae, licet manumittantur, tamen ad libertatem non perueniun
Those who have been sold under the condition that they are not to be manumitted, or who have been prohibited from being manumitted by a testament or by order of the provincial governor, even if they are manumitted, nevertheless do not attain freedom.

Notes

  1. §40.9.9.pret ille perterritus — The demonstrative pronoun 'ille' refers to the master ('dominus'), which is the referent of 'eum' in the preceding clause, rather than the relative pronoun 'qui' (the slave), indicating a shift of subject within the relative clause structure.
  2. §40.9.9.2hac lege uenierint, ne manumittantur — Here, 'lex' means a 'clause' or 'condition' of a contract of sale rather than 'statute', and the 'ne' clause specifies this condition. 'uenierint' is the perfect (or future perfect) subjunctive of 'uenero' (to be sold), meaning 'those who have been sold under the condition that they not be manumitted'.
  3. §40.9.9.2uel iussu praesidis prouinciae — The phrase 'prohibiti sint manumitti' from the preceding clause is implied here, so that the phrase is understood as 'or who have been prohibited from being manumitted by order of the provincial governor'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.9.9.pr-40.9.9.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.9.9.pr-40.9.9.2

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