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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.1.23.pr

Recovery of Sale Proceeds of a Slave Mistakenly Bequeathed

Passage 1878 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Julianus states that if someone possesses and sells a slave bequeathed to another under the false belief that the slave was bequeathed to themselves, they are liable to a claim for recovery of the price by the true legatee after the slave's death, due to unjust enrichment.

[AFRICANUS libro secundo quaestionum. ] §12.1.23.prSi eum seruum, qui tibi legatus sit, quasi mihi legatum possederim et uendiderim, mortuo eo posse te mihi pretium condicere Iulianus ait, quasi ex re tua locupletior factus sim.
[AFRICANUS from the second book of Questions.] Julianus says that if I possess and sell a slave who has been bequeathed to you, as though he had been bequeathed to me, you can, after the slave's death, bring an action for recovery of the price against me, on the ground that I have been enriched from your property.

Notes

  1. §12.1.23.prcondicere — A technical legal term meaning "to bring an action for recovery" (condictio). Here, it takes the accusative `pretium` (the price) as its direct object and the dative `mihi` (to me) as the defendant, with `te` (you) acting as the subject of the accusative-with-infinitive (A.c.I.) construction.
  2. §12.1.23.prquasi ex re tua locupletior factus sim — A clause with `quasi` followed by the perfect subjunctive `factus sim`. Beyond the literal sense of "as if," it provides the substantial ground or legal justification (enrichment at another's expense, i.e., unjust enrichment) for bringing the action of *condictio*.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.1.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.1.23.pr

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