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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.58.pr-50.16.58.1

Terms for Acts and the Scope of Our Freedmen

Passage 8872 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius points out the practical equivalence of 'gesta' and 'facta' in legal terminology, and defines the legal scope of who can be designated as "our freedmen."

[GAIUS libro uicensimo quarto ad edictum prouinciale. ] §50.16.58.prLicet inter 'gesta' et 'facta' uidetur quaedam esse suptilis differentia, attamen καταχρηστικῶς nihil inter factum et gestum interest.
[GAIUS on the Provincial Edict, book 24.] Although there seems to be a certain subtle difference between 'gesta' and 'facta', nevertheless catachrestically there is no difference between 'factum' and 'gestum'.
§50.16.58.1Paternos libertos recte uidemur dicere nostros libertos: liberorum libertos non recte nostros libertos dicimus.
We are rightly deemed to call our father's freedmen 'our freedmen'; but we do not rightly call the freedmen of our children 'our freedmen'.

Notes

  1. §50.16.58.prLicet... uidetur — The conjunction `licet` typically governs the subjunctive mood in classical Latin prose, but here it is used with the indicative `uidetur`. This is a characteristic usage found in post-classical and juristic Latin.
  2. §50.16.58.1uidemur — The first-person plural of `uideri` (passive of `uidere`), forming a personal construction with the infinitive `dicere`. It has the force of "we are deemed to say" or "we are seen as saying."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.58.pr-50.16.58.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.58.pr-50.16.58.1

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