Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §9.4.43.pr

Duty to Defend a Slave at the Place of Wrong and Loss of Ownership

Passage 1624 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius explains that since noxal liability follows the slave's person, they must be defended in the place where the offense was committed, and an owner who fails to produce or defend them may lose ownership of them.

[POMPONIUS libro octauo epistularum. ] §9.4.43.prSerui, quorum noxa caput sequitur, ibi defendendi sunt, ubi deliquisse arguentur: itaque seruos dominus eodem loco exhibere debet, ubi uim intulisse dicentur et carere omnium dominio potest, si eos non defendat.
[POMPONIUS, Book VIII of Letters.] Slaves whose noxal liability follows their person must be defended in the place where they are alleged to have committed the offense; therefore, the owner must produce the slaves in the same place where they are said to have committed violence, and he may lose the ownership of all of them if he does not defend them.

Notes

  1. 9.4.43.prnoxa caput sequitur — This points to the fundamental Roman law principle that "noxal liability follows the person." Here, `caput` refers to the person (literally, head) of the slave who committed the delict, meaning that the liability attaches to the slave and passes to whoever is the current owner.
  2. 9.4.43.prcarere omnium dominio potest — The verb `carere` governs the ablative case, here taking `dominio`. `omnium` is a genitive plural referring back to `serui` (slaves) and modifying `dominio`. Thus, the phrase means "the owner may lose the ownership of all of them."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §9.4.43.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:9.4.43.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.