[GAIUS libro nono ad edictum prouinciale. ] §17.1.27.prSi quis alicui scripserit, ut debitorem suum liberet, seque eam pecuniam, quam is debuerit, soluturum, mandati actione tenetur.
[GAIUS in the ninth book on the Provincial Edict.] If someone writes to another to release his debtor, and that he will pay the money which that debtor owed, he is held by the action of mandate.
§17.1.27.1Si seruum ea lege tibi tradidero, ut eum post mortem meam manumitteres, constitit obligatio: potest autem et in mea quoque persona agendi causa interuenire, ueluti si paenitentia acta seruum reciperare uelim.
If I deliver a slave to you on the condition that you manumit him after my death, an obligation is established; however, a cause of action can also arise in my own person, as for example if, having changed my mind, I should wish to recover the slave.
§17.1.27.2Qui mandatum suscepit, si potest id explere, deserere promissum officium non debet, alioquin quanti mandatoris intersit damnabitur: si uero intellegit explere se id officium non posse, id ipsum cum primum poterit debet mandatori nuntiare, ut is si uelit alterius opera utatur: quod si, cum possit nuntiare, cessauerit, quanti mandatoris intersit tenebitur: si aliqua ex causa non poterit nuntiare, securus erit.
He who has undertaken a mandate, if he can execute it, ought not to abandon the promised office; otherwise, he will be condemned in the amount of the mandator's interest. But if he realizes that he cannot execute that office, he must notify the mandator of this very fact as soon as possible, so that the latter may, if he wishes, employ another's services. If, however, when he could have notified him, he failed to do so, he will be held for the amount of the mandator's interest; if for some reason he was unable to notify him, he will be secure.
§17.1.27.3Morte quoque eius cui mandatum est, si is integro adhuc mandato decesserit, soluitur mandatum et ob id heres eius, licet exsecutus fuerit mandatum, non habet mandati actionem.
A mandate is also dissolved by the death of the person to whom it was mandated, if he dies while the mandate is still unperformed; and for this reason his heir, even if he has executed the mandate, does not have the action of mandate.
§17.1.27.4Impendia mandati exsequendi gratia facta si bona fide facta sunt, restitui omnimodo debent, nec ad rem pertinet, quod is qui mandasset potuisset, si ipse negotium gereret, minus impendere.
Expenses incurred for the purpose of executing a mandate, if they were incurred in good faith, must be restored in any event; and it is of no relevance that the person who gave the mandate could have expended less if he had managed the business himself.
§17.1.27.5Si mandatu meo Titio credideris et mecum mandati egeris, non aliter condemnari debeo, quam si actiones tuas, quas aduersus Titium habes, mihi praestiteris.
If by my mandate you have lent money to Titius and bring an action of mandate against me, I ought not to be condemned otherwise than if you surrender to me your actions which you have against Titius.
sed si cum Titio egeris, ego quidem non liberabor, sed in id dumtaxat tibi obligatus ero, quod a Titio seruare non potueris.
But if you sue Titius, I indeed shall not be released, but I shall be obligated to you only for that which you could not recover from Titius.