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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.32.pr

Status of Slaves in Civil Law and Equality under Natural Law

Passage 9092 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that while slaves are regarded as non-existent under civil law, this is not the case under natural law, because all human beings are equal under natural law.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo tertio ad Sabinum. ] §50.17.32.prQuod attinet ad ius ciuile, serui pro nullis habentur: non tamen et iure naturali, quia, quod ad ius naturale attinet, omnes homines aequales sunt.
[THE SAME, in his forty-third book on Sabinus.] As far as the civil law is concerned, slaves are regarded as nothing; yet this is not so also under natural law, because, as far as natural law is concerned, all men are equal.

Notes

  1. §50.17.32.prQuod attinet ad — An idiomatic expression using the relative pronoun quod, meaning "as far as ... is concerned" or "with regard to ...".
  2. §50.17.32.prpro nullis habentur — Passive voice of habere aliquem pro... (to regard someone as...). nullis is the ablative plural of the pronominal adjective nullus, here meaning "nobodies" or "non-existent entities".
  3. §50.17.32.prnon tamen et iure naturali — et is used adverbially to mean "also" or "even". iure naturali (under natural law) corresponds to the phrase Quod attinet ad ius ciuile in the preceding clause, but is expressed in the simple ablative of respect or domain. Contextually, the negation of habentur pro nullis (i.e., they are not regarded as nothing) is elliptical.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.32.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.32.pr

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