Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.3.5.pr

Acquisition by a Common Slave and Specific Masters

Passage 7513 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that a common slave is owned by the masters according to their intellectual shares, and any property acquired by the slave is in principle attributed to them in proportion to those shares, unless the slave acts by naming a specific master or by his command, in which case it is acquired for that master alone.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo octauo ad Sabinum. ] §45.3.5.prSeruus communis sic omnium est non quasi singulorum totus, sed pro partibus utique diuisis, ut intellectu magis partes habeant quam corpore: et ideo si quid stipulatur uel quaqua alia ratione adquirit, omnibus adquirit pro parte, qua dominium in eo habent.

[THE SAME, in the forty-eighth book on Sabinus.] A common slave belongs to all, not as if he belonged as a whole to each individual, but certainly in proportion to divided shares, so that they hold their shares in intellect rather than in body. Therefore, if he makes any stipulation or acquires by any other method, he acquires for all of them in proportion to the share in which they have ownership in him.

licet autem ei et nominatim alicui ex dominis stipulari uel traditam rem accipere, ut ei soli adquirat.

However, he is also permitted to make a stipulation specifically naming one of his masters, or to receive a delivered thing, so that he acquires for that master alone.

sed si non nominatim domino stipuletur, sed iussu unius dominorum, hoc iure utimur, ut soli ei adquirat, cuius iussu stipulatus est.

But if he does not stipulate by naming a master, but by the command of one of the masters, we apply this rule: that he acquires for him alone by whose command he made the stipulation.

Notes

45.3.5.printellectu magis partes habeant quam corpore — 'intellectu' and 'corpore' are ablatives of respect or manner, indicating that the shares are held 'ideally or intellectually (intellectu)' rather than 'physically or corporally (corpore).' This passage theoretically explains the nature of undivided shares (pars pro indiviso) in Roman law.
45.3.5.prhoc iure utimur, ut soli ei adquirat — 'hoc iure' is the ablative object of 'utimur' (we use). The 'ut' clause ('ut soli ei adquirat...') functions as an appositive noun clause (explanatory 'ut' clause) defining the content of 'hoc iure'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.3.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.3.5.pr

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