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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.17.6.pr

Peculium Status and Manumission of Slaves Donated by Wives

Passage 8624 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section examines whether a slave donated by a wife to a soldier who is a son of a household is included in his military peculium, and whether he can manumit the slave without his father's permission.

[IDEM libro trigensimo secundo ad Sabinum. ] §49.17.6.prSi militi filio familias uxor seruum manumittendi causa donauerit, an suum libertum fecerit, uideamus, quia peculiares et seruos et libertos potuit habere.
[THE SAME in the thirty-second book on Sabinus.] If a wife should donate a slave to a soldier who is a son of a household for the purpose of manumission, let us see whether he makes him his own freedman, since he could have both slaves and freedmen as part of his peculium.
et magis est, ut hoc castrensi peculio non adnumeretur, quia uxor ei non propter militiam nota esset.
And it is more correct that this should not be reckoned as part of his military peculium (castrense peculium), because his wife would not have been known to him on account of military service.
plane si mihi proponas ad castra eunti marito uxorem seruos donasse, ut manumittat et habiles ad militiam libertos habeat, potest dici sua uoluntate sine patris permissu manumittentem ad libertatem perducere.
Clearly, if you were to propose to me that a wife donated slaves to her husband as he was going to the camp, so that he might manumit them and have freedmen fit for military service, it can be said that he, by manumitting them of his own will without his father's permission, brings them to freedom.

Notes

  1. §49.17.6.pran suum libertum fecerit — An indirect question clause using the perfect subjunctive, acting as the object of uideamus (let us see).
  2. §49.17.6.pret magis est, ut — An impersonal expression magis est (it is more likely / correct) followed by an ut clause acting as the subject.
  3. §49.17.6.prmanumittentem — A present participle functioning as the accusative subject of the infinitive perducere (to bring). In this context, it refers to the husband (the soldier): 'that he, who manumits...'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.17.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.17.6.pr

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