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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.174.pr

Differences in Guarantees Regarding Slave Theft

Passage 8988 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the difference in legal meaning between guaranteeing that a slave is 'not a thief' and that he is 'free from liability for theft and damage'.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo secundo ad Sabinum. ] §50.16.174.prAliud est promittere 'furem non esse', aliud 'furto noxaque solutum': qui enim dicit furem non esse, de hominis proposito loquitur, qui furtis noxaque solutum, nemini esse furti obligatum promittit.
[THE SAME, in the forty-second book on Sabinus.] It is one thing to promise that 'he is not a thief', and another that 'he is free from theft and damage'; for he who says that he is not a thief speaks of the man's disposition, while he who promises that he is free from thefts and damage promises that he is bound to no one for theft.

Notes

  1. §50.16.174.prfurem non esse — An accusative-with-infinitive construction where the subject, the slave being sold, is omitted, meaning 'that the slave is not a thief'.
  2. §50.16.174.prproposito — Ablative of propositum (design, disposition), referring here to the subjective state of mind or character of the slave, specifically whether he has a disposition to steal.
  3. §50.16.174.prfurti obligatum — Genitive of relation or specification with the adjective obligatus, meaning 'bound or liable in respect of theft'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.174.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.174.pr

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