[IULIANUS libro duodecimo digestorum. ] §15.1.37.prSi creditor filii tui heredem te instituerit et tu hereditatem eius uendideris, illa parte stipulationis 'quanta pecunia ex hereditate ad te peruenerit' teneberis de peculio. §15.1.37.1Si seruo tuo permiseris uicarium emere aureis octo, ille decem emerit et tibi scripserit se octo emisse tuque ei permiseris eos octo ex tua pecunia soluere et is decem soluerit, hoc nomine duos aureos tantum uindicabis, sed hi uenditori praestabuntur dumtaxat de peculio serui.
[IULIANUS in the twelfth book of the Digests.] If a creditor of your son has appointed you as heir, and you have sold his inheritance, you will be liable to the extent of the peculium under that part of the stipulation: 'whatever money shall have come to you from the inheritance.' If you have permitted your slave to buy a subordinate slave (vicarius) for eight aurei, and he has bought him for ten and written to you that he bought him for eight, and you have permitted him to pay those eight from your money, and he has paid ten, you will reclaim only two aurei on this account; but these will be made good to the seller only to the extent of the slave's peculium.
§15.1.37.2Seruum communem, quem cum Titio habebam, uendidi Sempronio: quaesitum est, si de peculio cum Titio aut cum Sempronio ageretur, an eius peculii, quod apud me esset, ratio haberi deberet.
I sold to Sempronius a common slave whom I owned jointly with Titius. The question arose whether, if an action on the peculium were brought against Titius or Sempronius, account should be taken of that part of the peculium which was in my hands.
dixi, si cum Sempronio ageretur, numquam rationem eius peculii, quod apud me esset, haberi debere, quia is nullam aduersus me actionem haberet, per quam id quod praestitisset consequi posset.
I said that if the action were brought against Sempronius, account of the peculium in my hands should never be taken, because he would have no action against me by which he could recover what he had paid.
sed et si cum Titio post annum quam uendidissem ageretur, similiter non esse computandum peculium quod apud me est, quia iam mecum agi de peculio non posset.
But even if the action were brought against Titius more than a year after I had sold him, likewise the peculium in my hands should not be computed, because an action on the peculium could no longer be brought against me.
sin autem intra annum ageretur, tunc quoque habendam huius peculii rationem, postquam placuit alienato homine permittendum creditori et cum uenditore et cum emptore agere.
If, however, the action were brought within a year, then too, account should be taken of this peculium, since it is accepted that when a slave is alienated, the creditor is permitted to sue both the seller and the buyer.
§15.1.37.3Si actum sit de peculio cum eo qui usum fructum in seruo habet et minus consecutus sit creditor, non est iniquum, ut ex uniuerso eius peculio, siue apud fructuarium siue apud proprietarium erit, rem consequatur.
If an action on the peculium has been brought against one who has a usufruct in a slave, and the creditor has recovered less than his due, it is not unjust that he should obtain his claim out of the entire peculium, whether it be in the hands of the usufructuary or the owner.
nihil interest, operas suas conduxerit seruus a fructuario an pecuniam mutuam ab eo acceperit.
It makes no difference whether the slave has hired his own labor from the usufructuary or has received a loan of money from him.
dari itaque debebit actio ei aduersus dominum proprietatis deducto eo, quod seruus peculii nomine apud fructuarium habet.
Therefore, an action must be granted to him against the owner of the property, after deducting what the slave holds under the name of peculium in the hands of the usufructuary.