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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §14.2.10.pr-14.2.10.2

Freight Liability and Shipmaster Responsibility

Passage 2199 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Through the opinions of Labeo and Paulus, this section discusses the freight liability for slaves who die during transit, the attribution of liability in cases of cargo transfer or delays and accidents caused by force majeure, and the calculation of freight based on ship capacity versus actual load.

[LABEO libro primo pithanon a Paulo epitomatorum. ] §14.2.10.prSi uehenda mancipia conduxisti, pro eo mancipio, quod in naue mortuum est, uectura tibi non debetur.
[LABEO, from the first book of Epitomes of Probabilities by Paulus.] If you have contracted for the carriage of slaves to be transported, no freight is due from you for any slave who died on board the ship.
Paulus: immo quaeritur, quid actum est, utrum pro his qui impositi an pro his qui deportati essent, merces daretur: quod si hoc apparere non poterit, satis erit pro nauta, si probauerit impositum esse mancipium.
Paulus: Rather, it is asked what was agreed upon, whether the freight was to be paid for those who were put on board, or for those who were delivered. But if this cannot be made clear, it will be sufficient for the captain to prove that the slave was put on board.
§14.2.10.1Si ea condicione nauem conduxisti, ut ea merces tuae portarentur eaque merces nulla nauta necessitate coactus in nauem deteriorem, cum id sciret te fieri nolle, transtulit et merces tuae cum ea naue perierunt, in qua nouissime uectae sunt, habes ex conducto locato cum priore nauta actionem.
If you have chartered a ship on the condition that your goods should be carried in it, and the captain, forced by no necessity, but knowing that you did not wish this to be done, transferred those goods to an inferior ship, and your goods perished along with that ship in which they were last carried, you have an action on the contract of hire against the first captain.
Paulus: immo contra, si modo ea nauigatione utraque nauis periit, cum id sine dolo et culpa nautarum factum esset.
Paulus: On the contrary, rather, provided that both ships perished on that voyage, when this happened without the malice or fault of the sailors.
idem iuris erit, si prior nauta publice retentus nauigare cum tuis mercibus prohibitus fuerit.
The same rule of law will apply if the first captain was publicly detained and prohibited from sailing with your goods.
idem iuris erit, cum ea condicione a te conduxisset, ut certam poenam tibi praestaret, nisi ante constitutum diem merces tuas eo loci exposuisset, in quem deuehendas eas merces locasset, nec per eum staret, quo minus remissa sibi ea poena spectaret.
The same rule of law will apply when he had contracted with you on the condition that he would pay you a certain penalty unless he delivered your goods to that place to which he had undertaken to transport them before the appointed day, and it was not through him that the penalty was not remitted to him.
idem iuris in eodem genere cogitationis obseruabimus, si probatum fuerit nautam morbo impeditum nauigare non potuisse.
We shall observe the same rule of law in the same class of reasoning if it is proved that the captain was prevented by illness and could not sail.
idem dicemus, si nauis eius uitium fecerit sine dolo malo et culpa eius.
We shall say the same if his ship sustained damage without his malice and fault.
§14.2.10.2Si conduxisti nauem amphorarum duo milium et ibi amphoras portasti, pro duobus milibus amphorarum pretium debes.
If you chartered a ship of two thousand amphorae and carried amphorae there, you owe the price for two thousand amphorae.
PAULUS: immo si auersione nauis conducta est, pro duobus milibus debetur merces: si pro numero impositarum amphorarum merces constituta est, contra se habet: nam pro tot amphoris pretium debes, quot portasti.
Paulus: Rather, if the ship was chartered for a lump sum, the freight is due for two thousand; if the freight was established according to the number of amphorae loaded, it is otherwise; for you owe the price for as many amphorae as you carried.

Notes

  1. §14.2.10.prtibi non debetur — The dative 'tibi' in 'uectura tibi non debetur' (freight is not owed by/to you) functions as a dative of agent with the passive verb 'debetur', or as a dative of disadvantage/reference. It indicates that 'you', the charterer of the ship (the subject of 'conduxisti'), do not owe freight for the deceased slave.
  2. §14.2.10.1conduxisset — In the clause 'cum ea condicione a te conduxisset', the subject is the 'nauta' (captain/carrier). In the Roman contract of 'locatio conductio operis' (contract for work/carriage), the contractor who undertakes the work (here, the carrier) is the 'conductor' and thus the verb 'conducere' is used. Therefore, it means 'when he had contracted (the carriage) from you'.
  3. §14.2.10.1nec per eum staret, quo minus — The idiomatic Latin construction 'stare per aliquem, quo minus...' means 'to be through someone's fault that... not...'. Combined here with 'nec', it means 'and it was not due to him that (the penalty was not remitted)', signifying that because the non-performance was due to force majeure and not his fault, he should be excused from the penalty.
  4. §14.2.10.2auersione — The ablative 'auersione' is a legal term meaning 'in bulk', 'for a lump sum', or 'by way of a package deal'. 'Si auersione nauis conducta est' refers to a charter contract where the ship's entire capacity is hired for a lump sum, meaning the full charter rate is due regardless of the actual amount of cargo loaded.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §14.2.10.pr-14.2.10.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:14.2.10.pr-14.2.10.2

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