Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.15.1.pr

Application of the Fabian Law on Kidnapping to Sale of Freemen

Passage 8329 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains the conditions under which a capital crime is established under the Fabian law on kidnapping for purchasing or selling a person known to be free.

[ULPIANUS libro primo regularum. ] §48.15.1.prSi liberum hominem emptor sciens emerit, capitale crimen aduersus eum ex lege Fabia de plagio nascitur, quo uenditor quoque fit obnoxius, si sciens liberum esse uendiderit.
[ULPIANUS, Book I of Rules.] If a buyer, knowingly, purchases a free man, a capital crime arises against him under the Fabian law on kidnapping, to which the seller also becomes liable, if he sold him knowing that he was free.

Notes

  1. §48.15.1.prquo — An ablative neuter singular relative pronoun. Its antecedent is the neuter noun 'capitale crimen', not the feminine noun 'lex Fabia'. It means 'by which' or 'to which (crime)', indicating that the seller also becomes liable for the same offense.
  2. §48.15.1.prsciens liberum esse — An accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) construction where 'liberum' modifies an understood 'hominem' in the accusative, meaning 'that [he] is a free man'. It functions as the object of the nominative present participle 'sciens' (knowing). This structure is shared by both 'emptor sciens' in the first part and 'si sciens... uendiderit' in the second.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.15.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.15.1.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.