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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.1.31.pr-12.1.31.1

Restitution After Joinder of Issue and Slave Transactions

Passage 1886 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The author discusses the scope of restitution following the joinder of issue in an action for recovery, and examines the complex legal relations and adjustment of actions among the master, the seller, and the good-faith purchaser when a slave, acquired in good faith, purchases another slave using the master's peculium.

[IDEM libro septimo decimo ad Plautium. ] §12.1.31.prCum fundus uel homo per condictionem petitus esset, puto hoc nos iure uti, ut post iudicium acceptum causa omnis restituenda sit, id est omne, quod habiturus esset actor, si litis contestandae tempore solutus fuisset.
[THE SAME from the seventeenth book on Plautius.] When a tract of land or a slave has been claimed through an action for recovery (condictio), I think that we apply this rule of law: that after the joinder of issue, the entire case must be restored; that is, everything which the plaintiff would have had, if payment had been made at the time of the joinder of issue.
§12.1.31.1Seruum tuum imprudens a fure bona fide emi: is ex peculio, quod ad te pertinebat, hominem parauit, qui mihi traditus est.
Without knowing it, I bought your slave in good faith from a thief; from the peculium that belonged to you, he acquired another slave, who was delivered to me.
Sabinus Cassius posse te mihi hominem condicere: sed si quid mihi abesset ex negotio quod is gessisset, inuicem me tecum acturum.
Sabinus and Cassius hold that you can bring an action for recovery against me for that slave; but that if I should suffer any loss from the transaction which he conducted, I can in turn bring an action against you.
et hoc uerum est: nam et Iulianus ait uidendum, ne dominus integram ex empto actionem habeat, uenditor autem condicere possit bonae fidei emptori.
And this is correct; for Julian also says we must see to it that the master does not have a complete action on purchase while the seller can bring an action for recovery against the good-faith purchaser.
quod ad peculiares nummos attinet, si exstant, uindicare eos dominus potest, sed actione de peculio tenetur uenditori, ut pretium soluat: si consumpti sint, actio de peculio euanescit.
As far as the money belonging to the peculium is concerned, if it exists, the master can vindicate it, but he is liable to the seller under the action on peculium to pay the price; if it has been spent, the action on peculium disappears.
sed adicere debuit Iulianus non aliter domino serui uenditorem ex empto teneri, quam si ei pretium solidum et quaecumque, si cum libero contraxisset, deberentur, dominus serui praestaret.
But Julian ought to have added that the seller of the slave is not liable to the master on purchase unless the master of the slave pays him the full price and whatever would have been due if he had contracted with a free person.
idem dici debet, si bonae fidei possessori soluissem, si tamen actiones, quas aduersus eum habeam, praestare domino paratus sim.
The same must be said if I had paid the good-faith possessor, provided, however, that I am ready to cede to the master the actions which I have against him.

Notes

  1. §12.1.31.prhoc nos iure uti, ut — The demonstrative pronoun `hoc` is in the ablative case, serving as the object of `uti`. It anticipates the following `ut`-clause ("ut post iudicium acceptum..."), which defines the content of the rule. This is a common formulaic construction in legal Latin meaning "to apply this rule of law, namely that...".
  2. §12.1.31.1Sabinus Cassius — A verb of thinking or speaking (such as `putant` or `aiunt`) is elliptically omitted. The subsequent accusative with infinitive constructions (`posse te...` and `me... acturum`) depend on this omitted verb.
  3. §12.1.31.1non aliter domino serui uenditorem ex empto teneri, quam si ... dominus serui praestaret — A long accusative with infinitive clause governed by `adicere debuit` ("Julian ought to have added..."). The core of the clause is `uenditorem ... teneri` ("that the seller is liable"). The correlative construction `non aliter ... quam si` ("not otherwise ... than if", i.e., "only if") introduces the condition, in which `dominus` is the subject of `praestaret`, and `pretium solidum et quaecumque... deberentur` is the object.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.1.31.pr-12.1.31.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.1.31.pr-12.1.31.1

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