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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.4.1.pr

Introduction of an Analogous Action for Another Place

Passage 2074 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage explains that while an action normally could not be brought in a place other than the agreed-upon place of performance, an analogous action (actio utilis) was introduced to prevent unfairness when the promisor never appeared at that designated place.

[GAIUS libro nono ad edictum prouinciale. ] §13.4.1.prAlio loco, quam in quem sibi dari quisque stipulatus esset, non uidebatur agendi facultas competere.
[GAIUS, from the ninth book on the provincial edict.] It was not considered that the power of bringing an action was available in any other place than that in which each person had stipulated for something to be given to him.
sed quia iniquum erat, si promissor ad eum locum, in quem daturum se promisissset, numquam accederet (quod uel data opera faceret uel quia aliis locis necessario distringeretur), non posse stipulatorem ad suum peruenire, ideo uisum est utilem actionem in eam rem comparare.
But because it was inequitable that, if the promisor should never come to the place in which he had promised he would make the payment (which he might do either on purpose or because he was necessarily detained in other places), the stipulator should not be able to obtain what was his due, it was therefore deemed proper to provide an analogous action for that purpose.

Notes

  1. §13.4.1.prAlio loco, quam in quem — This is a correlative structure "alio loco quam [eo loco] in quem...", where the antecedent of the relative pronoun "quem" (an ablative noun phrase governed by "in") is omitted. It means "in another place than [that place] into which each had stipulated..."
  2. §13.4.1.prnon posse stipulatorem ad suum peruenire — An accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) clause acting as the subject of the impersonal expression "iniquum erat". The preceding conjunction "quia" governs this entire infinitive clause along with its conditional clause "si... accederet". "Ad suum" is a nominalized use meaning "to what is his own / to his due".
  3. §13.4.1.prdata opera — An ablative absolute (or ablative of manner) consisting of the noun "opera" and the participle "data". Literally "with effort given", it is used idiomatically as an adverbial phrase meaning "on purpose" or "intentionally".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.4.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.4.1.pr

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