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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.18.14.pr

Punishment of Conditional Slaves in Criminal Cases

Passage 8373 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It provides that a conditional slave caught in a crime should be punished as a free person rather than as a slave, owing to the privilege of his expected freedom.

[IDEM libro octauo regularum. ] §48.18.14.prStatuliber in delicto repertus sperandae libertatis praerogatiua non ut seruus ob ambiguum condicionis, sed ut liber puniendus est.
[THE SAME, in the eighth book of Rules.] A conditional slave caught in a crime is to be punished, by the privilege of the freedom to be hoped for, not as a slave on account of the uncertainty of his status, but as a free person.

Notes

  1. §48.18.14.prStatuliber — Refers to a slave who has been conditionally promised freedom, typically in a will, upon fulfilling a certain condition (such as making a payment or after a certain period).
  2. §48.18.14.prsperandae libertatis — The genitive feminine singular of the gerundive sperandus modifying libertatis, meaning 'of the freedom to be hoped for'. Together with praerogatiua, it forms an ablative phrase of cause/ground: 'by the privilege of the freedom to be hoped for'.
  3. §48.18.14.prob ambiguum condicionis — The preposition ob governing the accusative neuter noun ambiguum (uncertainty), which is modified by the genitive condicionis (of status). This phrase modifies non ut seruus, meaning 'not as a slave on account of the uncertainty of his status' (i.e., despite his intermediate, uncertain status).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.18.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.18.14.pr

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