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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.146.pr

Acts Done in Slavery Cannot Benefit a Freed Person

Passage 9206 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus states the legal principle that what a person did while they were a slave cannot bring any benefit to them after they have become free.

[PAULUS libro sexagensimo secundo ad edictum. ] §50.17.146.prQuod quis dum seruus est egit, proficere libero facto non potest.
[PAULUS, in the sixty-second book on the edict.] What anyone did while he was a slave cannot benefit him when he has become free.

Notes

  1. §50.17.146.prQuod quis dum seruus est egit — A relative clause with its antecedent (such as id) omitted. The relative pronoun quod is a neuter singular accusative serving as the direct object of egit, and the entire clause functions as the subject of the main verb potest (or of the infinitive proficere).
  2. §50.17.146.prlibero facto — Dative case. It is governed by proficere ("to benefit, be of advantage to"), referring to the person (quis) "when he has become a free man" (facto from fio). While it could grammatically be construed as an ablative absolute, taking it as a dative dependent on the verb is more natural.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.146.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.146.pr

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