Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.3.38.pr

Stipulation of Services from Freedman by Slave and Wording

Passage 7546 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Presents the view of Celsus that if a slave stipulates from a freedman that services be rendered 'to himself', the stipulation is void, which is different from when he stipulates without adding the word 'to himself'.

[IDEM libro quinto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §45.3.38.prSi seruus meus a liberto meo 'operas sibi dari' stipuletur, inutilem stipulationem esse Celsus scribit: aliter atque si non adiecto hoc uerbo 'sibi' stipulatus fuerit.

[THE SAME, from the fifth book on Quintus Mucius.] If my slave should stipulate from my freedman 'that services be given to himself', Celsus writes that the stipulation is void; otherwise than if he had stipulated without adding this word 'to himself'.

Notes

§45.3.38.prnon adiecto hoc uerbo 'sibi' — An ablative absolute construction, meaning "this word 'to himself' not having been added." The dative reflexive pronoun sibi refers to the slave (seruus meus), the logical subject of the clause. Because a slave lacks independent legal capacity, a stipulation for performance to the slave himself is void; however, if this word is omitted, the stipulation is construed as being acquired for the master and is thus valid.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.3.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.3.38.pr

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