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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §47.2.42.pr-47.2.42.1

Unauthorized Ship Operation and Fraudulent Manumission

Passage 7903 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the liability of the master and the slave after manumission when the slave operated a ship without consent, and the liability of both when manumission was done to evade a theft action.

[PAULUS libro nono ad Sabinum. ] §47.2.42.prSi seruus nauem exerceat non uoluntate domini, de eo, quod ibi perit, uolgaris formula in dominum danda est, ut quod alter admisit 'dumtaxat de peculio', quod ipse exercitor, adiciatur 'ut noxae dederet'.
[PAULUS in his ninth book on Sabinus.] If a slave should operate a ship without the consent of his master, and a standard formula is to be granted against the master for what is lost there, so that for what another has committed, the clause "only to the extent of his peculium" is added, and for what he himself as operator has committed, "that he should surrender him as damages" is added.
igitur si manumissus sit, persecutio quidem in peculio manebit aduersus dominum intra annum, noxalis ipsum sequetur.
Therefore, if he has been manumitted, the pursuit against the peculium will remain against the master within a year, while the noxal action will follow the person himself.
§47.2.42.1Interdum et manumissus et qui eum manumisit, ob furtum tenetur, si ideo manumisit, ne furti cum eo agi possit: sed si cum domino actum fuerit, ipso iure manumissum liberari Sabinus respondit, quasi decisum sit.
Sometimes both the manumitted person and the one who manumitted him are held liable for theft, if he manumitted him for the purpose that an action for theft could not be brought against him; but if action has been brought against the master, Sabinus replied that the manumitted person is released by operation of law, as if a settlement had been made.

Notes

  1. 47.2.42.prquod ipse exercitor — Corresponding to the preceding phrase 'quod alter admisit', the verb 'admisit' is omitted. It should be understood as 'quod ipse exercitor [admisit]' ('what he himself as operator has committed').
  2. 47.2.42.prut noxae dederet — A subjunctive clause representing the instructions or terms in the formula, indicating that the master 'should surrender [the slave] as damages' (noxae deditio) instead of paying the full value.
  3. 47.2.42.1quasi decisum sit — A clause of comparison with the subjunctive ('quasi' + perfect subjunctive), expressing a legal fiction where the initiation of the action against the master has the same effect as a formal settlement ('decisio') with the slave.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §47.2.42.pr-47.2.42.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:47.2.42.pr-47.2.42.1

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