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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.1.55.pr

Bequest of Use of an Infant Slave and Its Accrual

Passage 1226 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage explains that if only the use of an infant slave is bequeathed, the use does not exist during infancy due to the lack of labor capacity, but it begins to exist once the child exceeds the age of infancy.

[POMPONIUS libro uicensimo sexto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §7.1.55.prSi infantis usus tantummodo legatus sit, etiamsi nullus interim sit, cum tamen infantis aetatem excesserit, esse incipit.
[POMPONIUS in the twenty-sixth book on Quintus Mucius.] If only the use of an infant is bequeathed, although in the meantime there is none, yet when the infant has exceeded the age of infancy, it begins to exist.

Notes

  1. §7.1.55.prinfantis usus — 'infantis' is the genitive of the noun 'infans' (infant, speaking-less child; here referring to an infant slave) and functions as an objective genitive in relation to 'usus' (use). Since an infant cannot perform labor to be used, the timing of the commencement of this right is at issue.
  2. §7.1.55.prnullus ... sit — The subject is the previously mentioned 'usus'. The pronominal adjective 'nullus' is in the nominative singular masculine, agreeing with 'usus' (a masculine noun) to express that the use 'does not exist' or 'is null'.
  3. §7.1.55.prcum tamen infantis aetatem excesserit — The subject of the subjunctive perfect (or future perfect) verb 'excesserit' is the infant slave himself, implied from the preceding 'infantis'. It expresses a temporal condition: 'when he has exceeded' the 'aetatem infantis' (the age of infancy).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.1.55.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.1.55.pr

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