- Source
- Digesta Iustiniani Augusti. Mommsen, Theodor & Krueger, Paul, editors. Berlin: Weidmann, 1870.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.14.1.pr-2.14.1.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
This section addresses the natural law basis of the equity in the edict, defining the core Latin legal concepts of agreement (pactum, pactio, conuentio) and discussing their etymology and how they form the fundamental basis of all contracts and obligations.
[ULPIANUS libro quarto ad edictum.]
[ULPIAN, On the Edict, book 4]
Huius edicti aequitas naturalis est. quid enim tam congruum fidei humanae, quam ea quae inter eos placuerunt seruare?1
The equity of this edict is natural. For what is so agreeable to human good faith as to observe those things which they have agreed upon among themselves?
Pactum autem a pactione dicitur (inde etiam pacis nomen appellatum est) et est pactio duorum pluriumue in idem placitum et consensus.
Now, pactum is derived from pactio (whence also the name of peace is called), and pactio is the consent and agreement of two or more persons on the same matter.
Conuentionis uerbum generale est ad omnia pertinens, de quibus negotii contrahendi transigendique causa consentiunt qui inter se agunt: nam sicuti conuenire dicuntur qui ex diuersis locis in unum locum colliguntur et ueniunt, ita et qui ex diuersis animi motibus in unum consentiunt,2 id est in unam sententiam decurrunt. adeo autem conuentionis nomen generale est, ut eleganter dicat Pedius3 nullum esse contractum, nullam obligationem, quae non habeat in se conuentionem, siue re siue uerbis fiat: nam et stipulatio, quae uerbis fit, nisi habeat consensum, nulla est.
The word conuentio is general, applying to all things concerning which those who transact business with one another consent for the purpose of contracting or settling a transaction. For just as those who are gathered and come from different places to one place are said conuenire, so too are those who, from different movements of the mind, consent to one thing, that is, arrive at one opinion. Moreover, the name conuentio is so general that Pedius elegantly says that there is no contract, no obligation, which does not contain in itself a conuentio, whether it is made by act or by words; for even a stipulation, which is made by words, is null unless it has consent.
Sed conuentionum pleraeque in aliud nomen transeunt: ueluti in emptionem, in locationem, in pignus uel in stipulationem.
But most of the conuentiones pass over into another name: as into purchase, lease, pledge, or stipulation.
- 2.14.1.prea quae inter eos placuerunt seruare
The infinitive seruare functions as the subject of comparison after quid ... tam ... quam. ea (neuter plural accusative) is the direct object of seruare and is modified by the relative clause quae ... placuerunt. placuerunt is the perfect tense of the intransitive verb placere (to be agreed upon, to please), with the relative pronoun quae as its subject.
- 2.14.1.2ita et qui ex diuersis animi motibus in unum consentiunt
A correlative construction of sicuti ... ita (et) ... (just as ... so too ...). In correspondence with the first part sicuti ... dicuntur, the verb phrase conuenire dicuntur (are said to convene) is understood as omitted after the second part introduced by ita et (where the subject is the clause introduced by the relative pronoun qui).
- 2.14.1.2adeo autem conuentionis nomen generale est, ut eleganter dicat Pedius
This is a consecutive clause construction introduced by the adverb adeo (so much) and the conjunction ut (that). Within the clause governed by the subjunctive present dicat, the accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction nullum esse contractum, nullam obligationem follows as the object of the verb of saying.