Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.47.pr

Reluctance to Impose Obligations and Favor for Release

Passage 7332 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Quoting Arrianus, this text outlines contrasting attitudes in legal interpretation: one should be inclined to deny liability when establishing an obligation, but more ready to grant release when freeing someone.

[IDEM ex libro quarto decimo ad Plautium. ] §44.7.47.prArrianus ait multum interesse, quaeras, utrum aliquis obligetur an aliquis liberetur: ubi de obligando quaeritur, propensiores esse debere nos, si habeamus occasionem, ad negandum: ubi de liberando, ex diuerso, ut facilior sis ad liberationem.
[THE SAME, from his fourteenth book on Plautius.] Arrianus says that it makes a great difference whether you ask whether someone is bound or someone is released: where it is a question of binding, we ought to be more inclined, if we have an opportunity, to deny the obligation; where it is a question of releasing, on the contrary, so that you may be more ready to grant release.

Notes

  1. 44.7.47.prmultum interesse, quaeras — The clause with 'quaeras' (present subjunctive second-person singular used generally, 'if you/one asks'), which takes the indirect question 'utrum... an...', functions as the subject of the impersonal verb 'interesse'.
  2. 44.7.47.prpropensiores esse debere nos — This is an accusative and infinitive construction governed by the main verb 'ait'. 'nos' is the subject accusative, and 'debere' is the infinitive, which in turn takes the infinitive 'esse' with the comparative adjective 'propensiores' (accusative plural) as its complement.
  3. 44.7.47.prut facilior sis — 'sis' is the present subjunctive second-person singular (generalizing). 'ut' introduces a clause of result or purpose/requirement, indicating the desirable attitude in the case of release, in parallel with the obligation ('debere nos...') expressed in the previous clause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.47.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.47.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.