Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.1.65.pr

Distinction Between Sale and Hire in Tile Making

Passage 2653 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment addresses whether an agreement for the manufacture and delivery of tiles is a sale (emptio) or a hire (locatio), concluding that it is a sale if the manufacturer supplies the material, as it involves alteration and alienation of the material.

[IDEM libro undecimo epistularum. ] §18.1.65.prConuenit mihi tecum, ut certum numerum tegularum mihi dares certo pretio quod ut faceres: utrum emptio sit an locatio? respondit, si ex meo fundo tegulas tibi factas ut darem conuenit, emptionem puto esse, non conductionem: totiens enim conductio alicuius rei est, quotiens materia, in qua aliquid praestatur, in eodem statu eiusdem manet: quotiens uero et immutatur et alienatur, emptio magis quam locatio intellegi debet.
[THE SAME, Letters, Book XI] An agreement was made between me and you, that you should give me a certain number of tiles at a certain price for doing this: is this a sale or a hire? He replied: if it was agreed that I should give you tiles made from my land, I think it is a sale, not a hire; for a hire of anything exists as often as the material in which something is performed remains in the same state and belongs to the same person; but as often as it is both changed and alienated, it should be understood as a sale rather than a hire.

Notes

  1. §18.1.65.prquod ut faceres — The neuter accusative singular relative pronoun quod refers back to the action of delivering the tiles, and together with the ut clause, functions to express the purpose or condition, modifying certo pretio to mean 'at a certain price for your doing this'.
  2. §18.1.65.preiusdem — The genitive masculine singular of the pronoun idem, indicating that the material remains 'of the same person' (i.e., the customer who originally provided it). The retention of ownership by the original owner is a key criterion for distinguishing hire (locatio conductio) from sale (emptio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.1.65.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.1.65.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.