[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo septimo ad edictum. ] §13.5.14.prQui autem constituit se soluturum, tenetur, siue adiecit certam quantitatem siue non. §13.5.14.1Si quis constituerit se pignus daturum: cum utilitas pignorum inrepserit, debet etiam hoc constitutum admitti. §13.5.14.2Sed et si quis certam personam fideiussuram pro se constituerit, nihilo minus tenetur, ut Pomponius scribit.
[ULPIANUS, from the twenty-seventh book on the Edict.]\n\nMoreover, he who promises that he will pay is bound, whether he has added a certain quantity or not.\n\nIf anyone promises that he will give a pledge: since the utility of pledges has crept in, this promise also ought to be admitted.\n\nBut also, if anyone promises that a certain person will become a surety for him, he is nonetheless bound, as Pomponius writes.
quid tamen si ea persona nolit fideiubere? puto teneri eum qui constituit, nisi aliud actum est.
But what if that person is unwilling to become a surety? I think that he who made the promise is bound, unless something else was agreed.
quid si ante decessit? si mora interueniente, aequum est teneri eum qui constituit uel in id quod interest uel ut aliam personam non minus idoneam fideiubentem praestet: si nulla mora interueniente, magis puto non teneri. §13.5.14.3Constituere autem et praesentes et absentes possumus, sicut pacisci, et per nuntium et per nosmet ipsos, et quibuscumque uerbis.
What if he died beforehand? If delay has intervened, it is equitable that the one who made the promise be held liable either for the interest or to provide another no less suitable person as a surety; if no delay has intervened, I rather think that he is not bound.\n\nMoreover, we can make such a promise both when present and when absent, just as we can make a pact, both through a messenger and by ourselves, and by any words whatsoever.