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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.3.28.pr

Letter Promising Interest on Deposit and Good Faith Action

Passage 2433 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A case where Scaevola answered that interest can be claimed under a good faith action based on a letter in which Caecilius Candidus promised Paccius Rogatianus to pay interest on deposited money, provided that the depositary either collected interest or used the money for his own purposes.

[SCAEUOLA libro primo responsorum. ] §16.3.28.prQuintus Caecilius Candidus ad Paccium Rogatianum epistulam scripsit in uerba infra scripta: 'Caecilius Candidus Paccio Rogatiano suo salutem.
[SCAEVOLA, Opinions, Book 1] Quintus Caecilius Candidus wrote a letter to Paccius Rogatianus in the words written below: 'Caecilius Candidus sends greetings to his dear Paccius Rogatianus.
Uiginti quinque nummorum quos apud me esse uoluisti, notum tibi 'ista hac epistula facio ad ratiunculam meam ea peruenisse: quibus ut primum prospiciam, 'ne uacua tibi sint: id est ut usuras eorum accipias, curae habebo'. quaesitum est, an ex ea epistula etiam usurae peti possint.
Regarding the twenty-five nummi which you wished to be in my possession, I inform you by this very letter that they have reached my account; I shall take care to make provision for them as soon as possible, so that they may not lie idle for you, that is, so that you may receive interest on them.' The question was asked whether interest could also be claimed on the basis of this letter.
respondi deberi ex bonae fidei iudicio usuras, siue percepit siue pecunia in re sua usus est.
I answered that interest is due under an action of good faith, whether he collected it or used the money for his own purposes.

Notes

  1. §16.3.28.prUiginti quinque nummorum — A genitive placed at the beginning of the sentence, serving to introduce the topic ('regarding...'). It is semantically connected with the pronoun 'ea' (neuter plural accusative, referring to the sum of the money) in the subsequent accusative-and-infinitive clause, but grammatically it acts as a dislocation or anacoluthon outside the main clause structure.
  2. §16.3.28.prcurae habebo — An expression using the dative 'curae' (dative of purpose/service); 'curae aliquid habere' means 'to have something as a care' or 'to take care of something.' Here, the series of 'ut' clauses ('ut primum prospiciam... id est ut usuras... accipias') functions as the substantive object of 'curae habebo'.
  3. §16.3.28.prsiue percepit — The subject of the verb 'percepit' is the depositary (Caecilius Candidus), and the object 'usuras' (interest) is omitted. It means 'whether the depositary himself collected interest (from a third party by investing the money)'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.3.28.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.3.28.pr

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