Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §15.1.41.pr

Factual Debts of Slaves and Master's Rights and Liability

Passage 2300 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that although a slave has no civil law obligations, the master can factually claim debts owed to the slave from third parties, and is liable to be sued up to the limit of the peculium or to the extent of his own enrichment.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo tertio ad Sabinum. ] §15.1.41.prNec seruus quicquam debere potest nec seruo potest deberi, sed cum eo uerbo abutimur, factum magis demonstramus quam ad ius ciuile referimus obligationem.
[ULPIANUS in the forty-third book on Sabinus.] A slave cannot owe anything, nor can anything be owed to a slave; but when we misuse that term, we are pointing to a fact rather than referring an obligation to civil law.
itaque quod seruo debetur, ab extraneis dominus recte petet, quod seruus ipse debet, eo nomine in peculium et si quid inde in rem domini uersum est in dominum actio datur.
Therefore, what is owed to a slave, the master will rightfully claim from third parties; as for what the slave himself owes, an action is granted against the master under that name, up to the limit of the peculium, and if any of it was turned to the profit of the master, an action is granted against him.

Notes

  1. §15.1.41.prabutimur — The verb abutor (to misuse, or use in a broader sense) governs the ablative case, taking the phrase eo uerbo (ablative) as its object.
  2. §15.1.41.prquod seruus ipse debet — A relative clause positioned at the beginning of the sentence, functioning like a nominative pendens that is grammatically independent of the main clause, serving to introduce the topic ('as for what the slave himself owes').
  3. §15.1.41.preo nomine in peculium — An expression referring to the 'action on the peculium' (actio de peculio), where a master is held liable for a slave's debt up to the limit of the peculium. 'in peculium' indicates that the action is granted against (and limited to) the peculium itself.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §15.1.41.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:15.1.41.pr

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.