Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §14.3.16.pr

Authority of Estate Managers and Liability for Sales

Passage 2215 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the scope of authority of an estate manager and the owner's liability, explaining that while an owner is generally not liable because the manager is appointed to gather crops, liability may exceptionally be established on the model of the action against a business manager if the manager was also authorized to sell goods.

[PAULUS libro uicensimo nono ad edictum. ] §14.3.16.prSi cum uilico alicuius contractum sit, non datur in dominum actio, quia uilicus propter fructus percipiendos, non propter quaestum praeponitur.
[PAULUS from the twenty-ninth book on the Edict.] If a contract has been made with someone's estate manager, an action is not granted against the owner, because an estate manager is appointed for the purpose of gathering fruits, not for the purpose of trade.
si tamen uilicum distrahendis quoque mercibus praepositum habuero, non erit iniquum exemplo institoriae actionem in me competere.
If, however, I have appointed an estate manager also for the purpose of selling goods, it will not be unjust for an action to lie against me on the model of the action against a business manager.

Notes

  1. §14.3.16.prpropter fructus percipiendos — percipiendos is a gerundive agreeing with the accusative plural noun fructus. Together with the preposition propter, it expresses purpose: "for the purpose of gathering fruits."
  2. §14.3.16.prpraepositum habuero — A periphrastic construction combining the future perfect habuero with the perfect passive participle praepositum, emphasizing the maintenance of a state of appointment ("if I have kept him appointed").
  3. §14.3.16.prexemplo institoriae — institoriae is a genitive singular feminine with the noun actionis (action) omitted, which is common in legal contexts to refer to the actio institoria (action against a business manager). exemplo is an ablative of accordance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §14.3.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:14.3.16.pr

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