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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §15.4.2.pr-15.4.2.2

Orders by Tutors and Subsequent Purchase of Another's Slave

Passage 2343 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section determines the liability for credit extended to slaves or daughters on the orders of tutors, masters, or fathers, and states that ordering a contract with another's slave does not create retroactively effective liability even if the slave is subsequently purchased.

[PAULUS libro trigensimo ad edictum. ] §15.4.2.prSi tutoris iussu seruo pupilli creditum sit, puto, si ex utilitate pupilli fuerit creditum, in pupillum esse dandam actionem 'quod iussit tutor'.
[PAULUS, On the Edict, book 30] If credit has been extended to a slave of a ward on the order of his tutor, I think that, if the credit was for the benefit of the ward, an action 'because the tutor ordered' should be granted against the ward.
§15.4.2.1Si iussu domini ancillae uel iussu patris filiae creditum sit, danda est in eos quod iussu actio.
If credit has been extended to a female slave on the order of her master, or to a daughter on the order of her father, an action on the order must be granted against them.
§15.4.2.2Si iussu meo cum alieno seruo contractum fuerit eumque postea redemero, quod iussu non tenebor, ne actio, quae ab initio inutilis fuerit, euentu confirmetur.
If a contract has been made with another's slave on my order, and I afterwards purchase him, I shall not be held liable on the order, lest an action which was ineffective from the beginning should be validated by a subsequent event.

Notes

  1. §15.4.2.prex utilitate — The preposition ex with the ablative utilitas means "in accordance with the benefit of" or "for the advantage of". Here, it indicates the requirement that the credit extended must have turned out to be to the ward's advantage for the action to be granted against the ward.
  2. §15.4.2.2euentu — The ablative singular of the noun euentus, expressing means or cause, meaning "by a subsequent event" or "by the outcome". It refers to the subsequent change of factual circumstances (purchasing the slave), reflecting the Roman legal maxim that what is void from the beginning cannot be validated by a subsequent event.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §15.4.2.pr-15.4.2.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:15.4.2.pr-15.4.2.2

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