Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §14.4.9.pr-14.4.9.2

Bequest of Peculium and Liability in Tributorian Action

Passage 2228 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section outlines the liability of heirs and other successors, discussing the heir's liability to an action for distribution when a peculium is bequeathed to a manumitted slave, and explaining the unlimited liability arising from the heir's own fraud.

[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo nono ad edictum. ] §14.4.9.prQuod in herede dicimus, idem erit et in ceteris successoribus.
[ULPIANUS, from the twenty-ninth book on the Edict.] What we say in the case of an heir will also apply to other successors.
§14.4.9.1Eligere quis debet, qua actione experiatur, utrum de peculio an tributoria, cum scit sibi regressum ad aliam non futurum.
A person must choose which action he should bring, whether the action on the peculium or the action for distribution, since he knows that he will have no recourse to the other.
plane si quis uelit ex alia causa tributoria agere, ex alia causa de peculio, audiendus erit.
Clearly, if someone wishes to bring the action for distribution on one ground, and the action on the peculium on another ground, he must be heard.
§14.4.9.2Si seruo testamento manumisso peculium legatum sit, non debere heredem tributoria teneri, quasi neque ad eum peruenerit neque dolo fecerit, Labeo ait.
Labeo says that if a peculium is bequeathed to a slave manumitted by a will, the heir ought not to be held liable to the action for distribution, as if it has neither come to him nor has he acted with fraud.
sed Pomponius libro sexagensimo scripsit heredem, nisi curauerit caueri sibi a seruo uel deduxit a peculio quod tribuendum erat, teneri tributoria, quae sententia non est sine ratione: ipse enim auctor doli est, qui id egit, ne intribueret: totiens enim in heredem damus de eo quod ad eum peruenit, quotiens ex dolo defuncti conuenitur, non quotiens ex suo.
But Pomponius wrote in his sixtieth book that the heir is liable to the action for distribution unless he has seen to it that security was given to him by the slave, or has deducted from the peculium what was to be distributed; and this opinion is not without reason: for he himself is the author of the fraud, who acted in such a way as not to distribute; for we grant an action against an heir in respect of what has come to him only as often as he is sued on account of the fraud of the deceased, but not as often as he is sued on account of his own.

Notes

  1. §14.4.9.2non debere heredem tributoria teneri, quasi neque ad eum peruenerit neque dolo fecerit — Within the indirect speech (accusative and infinitive construction) governed by Labeo ait, the clause introduced by quasi takes the perfect subjunctive (peruenerit, fecerit) to express a hypothetical comparison (as if ... not). It outlines the ground for exemption based on the lack of both enrichment to the heir and fraud on his part.
  2. §14.4.9.2totiens enim in heredem damus de eo quod ad eum peruenit, quotiens ex dolo defuncti conuenitur, non quotiens ex suo — A correlative construction of totiens ... quotiens ... The object actionem (action) of damus ('we grant') is omitted. At the end, dolo conuenitur is omitted after non quotiens ex suo, indicating that when the heir is sued for his own fraud, his liability is not limited to the amount of enrichment (de eo quod ad eum peruenit).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §14.4.9.pr-14.4.9.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:14.4.9.pr-14.4.9.2

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.