Perpetual Action on the Facts for Gain from Fraud — Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian Book 4 (4.3.28.pr), Latin & English

[GAIUS libro quarto ad edictum prouinciale.]

§4.3.28.pr

Itaque si accepto lata sit tibi pecunia,¹ omnimodo cum herede tuo agetur. at si res tibi tradita sit, si quidem mortuo te ea res extitit, agetur cum herede tuo, si minus,² non agetur. sed utique in heredem perpetuo dabitur, quia non debet lucrari ex alieno damno. cui conueniens est, ut et in ipso, qui dolo commiserit, in id quod locupletior esset³ perpetuo danda sit in factum actio.

Therefore, if money has been entered as received to you (discharged), an action will be brought against your heir under any circumstances. But if a thing has been delivered to you, if indeed that thing existed at your death, an action will be brought against your heir; if not, it will not be brought. But in any event, an action will be granted against the heir perpetually, because one ought not to profit from another’s loss. Consistent with this, an action on the facts (actio in factum) should be granted perpetually even against the very person who committed the fraud, to the extent that he was made richer.

Syntax notes3 items

4.3.28.prsi accepto lata sit tibi pecunia
Passive of the verb accepto ferre (to enter as received in the account book). It refers to the formal discharge of a verbal obligation (acceptilatio).
4.3.28.prsi minus
An elliptical expression meaning "if not", representing the negative alternative of the preceding conditional clause si quidem mortuo te ea res extitit (i.e., "if the thing did not exist at your death").
4.3.28.prin id quod locupletior esset
A restrictive clause with the relative pronoun quod, meaning "to the extent that he was made richer (as a result of the fraud)". The imperfect subjunctive esset is due to the sequence of tenses in the subordinate clause.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-07-12)urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.3.28.pr