Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.4.4.pr-13.4.4.1

Claims at the Agreed Place and Equitable Absolution

Passage 2077 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage describes the rules when a claim is brought in Ephesus (the original place of performance) and details how the judge, guided by equity, may acquit the defendant after securing a guarantee for payment at the promised place.

[ULPIANUS libro uicesimo septimo ad edictum. ] §13.4.4.prQuod si Ephesi petetur, ipsa sola summa petetur nec aplius quid, nisi si quid esset stipulatus, uel si temporis utilitas interuenit.
[ULPIAN from the twenty-seventh book on the edict.] But if it is sued for at Ephesus, only the sum itself will be sued for, and nothing more, unless some other thing was stipulated, or if the advantage of time intervenes.
§13.4.4.1Interdum iudex, qui ex hac actione cognoscit, cum sit arbitraria, absoluere reum debet coutione ab eo exacta de pecunia ibi soluenda ubi promissa est.
Sometimes the judge who hears the case under this action, since it is discretionary, ought to acquit the defendant after extracting a security from him that the money will be paid at the place where it was promised.
quid enim si ibi uel oblata pecunia actori dicatur uel deposita uel ex facili soluenda? nonne debebit interdum absoluere? in summa aequitatem quoque ante oculos habere debet iudex, qui huic actioni addictus est.
For what if it is said that the money was either offered to the plaintiff there, or deposited, or is ready to be easily paid? Ought he not sometimes to acquit him? In short, the judge who is assigned to this action must also keep equity before his eyes.

Notes

  1. 13.4.4.prnisi si quid esset stipulatus — A third-person singular pluperfect subjunctive of the deponent verb. The unexpressed subject refers to the creditor (plaintiff). It is interpreted as 'unless the creditor had stipulated for something additional (such as interest)'.
  2. 13.4.4.1cautione ab eo exacta — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun 'cautio' and the perfect passive participle 'exacta' from 'exigo'. It means 'after extracting a security from him (the defendant)', expressing the precondition for granting acquittal (absoluere).
  3. 13.4.4.1quid enim si — An elliptical expression representing 'quid enim fiet si...' (for what would happen if...). It functions as a rhetorical question where the apodosis is omitted before the conditional clause with the subjunctive 'dicatur'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.4.4.pr-13.4.4.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.4.4.pr-13.4.4.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.