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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §10.3.26.pr

Recovery of Damages for Injury to a Common Slave

Passage 1721 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a case where a common slave broke his leg while working under the care of one co-owner, it is ruled that the other co-owner can recover damages for negligence through an action for dividing common property.

[ALFENUS UARUS libro secundo digestorum. ] §10.3.26.prCommunis seruus cum apud alterum esset, crus fregit in opere: quaerebatur, alter dominus quid cum eo, penes quem fuisset, ageret.
[ALFENUS VARUS, Digest, book II.] When a common slave was with one of his masters, he broke his leg while working: the question was asked what the other master could do against the one with whom the slave had been.
respondi, si quid culpa illius magis quam casu res communis damni cepisset, per arbitrum communi diuidundo posse reciperari.
I replied that if the common property had suffered any damage through the fault of the latter rather than by accident, it could be recovered through an arbitrator for dividing common property.

Notes

  1. §10.3.26.prquid ... ageret — Subjunctive imperfect in an indirect question introduced by the impersonal `quaerebatur`. In a legal context, `agere` specifically means 'to bring an action' or 'to sue'.
  2. §10.3.26.prquid ... damni — Partitive genitive construction. The genitive `damni` (of damage) depends on the pronoun `quid` (anything), meaning 'any damage'. `damnum capere` is a standard idiomatic phrase for 'to suffer damage'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §10.3.26.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:10.3.26.pr

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