Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.1.67.pr

Freedom of a Self-Ransomed Slave and Absent Masters

Passage 948 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that a slave ransomed with his own money is freed from the moment of ransom under imperial constitution, and details the legal remedies if the purchaser avoids his duty of manumission by keeping out of the way.

[IDEM libro sexto disputationum. ] §5.1.67.prQui se dicit suis nummis redemptum, si hoc probauerit, exinde liber erit ex quo redemptus est, quia constitutio non liberum pronuntiari praecipit, sed restitui ei libertatem iubet.
[THE SAME, in the Sixth Book of Disputations.] He who says that he has been ransomed with his own money, if he proves this, shall be free from the time when he was ransomed; for the constitution does not direct that he be declared free, but orders that his freedom be restored to him.
proinde compellendus erit manumittere eum qui se suis nummis redemit.
Consequently, the purchaser shall be compelled to manumit the person who ransomed himself with his own money.
sed et si latitet, exempla senatus consultorum ad fideicommissam libertatem pertinentium debere induci oportet.
But, even if the purchaser should keep out of the way, the precedents of the decrees of the Senate relating to trust-bequests of freedom must be applied.

Notes

  1. §5.1.67.prliberum pronuntiari — The accusative 'liberum' acts as the subject of the passive infinitive 'pronuntiari'. It refers to a declaratory judgment that the person was already free, contrasted with 'restitui ei libertatem', which means restoring the state of freedom through active restitution (manumission).
  2. §5.1.67.prcompellendus erit — The subject of this periphrastic conjugation is omitted but refers contextually to the 'purchaser' (or master) who received the ransom money and is thus obliged to manumit the slave. This implied subject is the active agent of the subsequent infinitive 'manumittere'.
  3. §5.1.67.prsi latitet — The subject of the subjunctive 'latitet' is the purchaser (or master) who keeps out of the way to evade the duty of manumission. The subjunctive mood is used to present a hypothetical scenario.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.1.67.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.67.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.