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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.3.3.pr

Point in Time for Valuing the Property in a Claim for Recovery

Passage 2072 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discussion on the reference point in time for the valuation of a claimed thing in an action for recovery. It states that normally the time of condemnation is used, but the time of death is used if the thing has perished, and the time of default if it deteriorated after default.

[IDEM libro uicensimo septimo ad edictum. ] §13.3.3.prIn hac actione si quaeratur, res quae petita est cuius temporis aestimationem recipiat, uerius est, quod Seruius ait, condemnationis tempus spectandum: si uero desierit esse in rebus humanis, mortis tempus, sed ἐν πλάτει secundum Celsum erit spectandum: non enim debet nouissimum uitae tempus aestimari, ne ad exiguum pretium aestimatio redigatur in seruo forte mortifere uulnerato.
[THE SAME, On the Edict, Book XXVII] In this action, if it is asked of what time the thing claimed should receive its valuation, it is more correct, as Servius says, that the time of condemnation must be looked to; but if it has ceased to exist among human affairs, the time of death, though according to Celsus this must be looked to ἐν πλάτει; for the very last moment of life ought not to be valued, lest the valuation be reduced to a paltry price, as in the case, perhaps, of a mortally wounded slave.
in utroque autem, si post moram deterior res facta sit, Marcellus scribit libro uicensimo habendam aestimationem, quanto deterior res facta sit: et ideo, si quis post moram seruum eluscatum dederit, nec liberari eum: quare ad tempus morae in his erit reducenda aestimatio.
In both cases, however, if the thing has deteriorated after default, Marcellus writes in his twentieth book that an assessment must be made of how much worse the thing has become; and therefore, if anyone after default delivers a slave who has lost an eye, he is not discharged; wherefore in these cases the valuation must be referred back to the time of default.

Notes

  1. §13.3.3.prcuius temporis aestimationem recipiat — An indirect question clause dependent on the impersonal passive `quaeratur` (if it is asked). The subject of this clause, `res quae petita est`, is placed at the beginning of the construction for emphasis.
  2. §13.3.3.prcondemnationis tempus spectandum — A gerundive construction with `esse` omitted (`spectandum [esse]`). Syntactically, it functions as the subject clause of the impersonal expression `uerius est` (it is more correct), meaning 'that the time of condemnation must be looked to.'
  3. §13.3.3.prnec liberari eum — An accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction dependent on the main verb `Marcellus scribit`. Accompanied by the conditional `si` clause, `eum` (the debtor) acts as the subject accusative and `liberari` as the passive infinitive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.3.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.3.3.pr

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