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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.1.8.pr-18.1.8.1

Sale of Future Things and the Purchase of an Expectation

Passage 2596 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the principle that a sale requires an object, explaining how the sale of future fruits or offspring has retroactive effect, and establishes the validity of purchasing a mere chance ('emptio spei') where no warranty for eviction arises.

[POMPONIUS libro nono ad Sabinum. ] §18.1.8.prNec emptio nec uenditio sine re quae ueneat potest intellegi.
[POMPONIUS, in the ninth book on Sabinus.] Neither purchase nor sale can be understood to exist without a thing to be sold.
et tamen fructus et partus futuri recte ementur, ut, cum editus esset partus, iam tunc, cum contractum esset negotium, uenditio facta intellegatur: sed si id egerit uenditor, ne nascatur aut fiant, ex empto agi posse.
And yet, future fruits and offspring may be validly purchased, so that, when the offspring is born, the sale is understood to have been made at the very time when the contract was entered into; but if the seller acts to prevent them from being born or produced, an action on the purchase can be brought.
§18.1.8.1Aliquando tamen et sine re uenditio intellegitur, ueluti cum quasi alea emitur.
Sometimes, however, a sale is understood to exist even without a thing, as when what is bought is, so to speak, a chance.
quod fit, cum captum piscium uel auium uel missilium emitur: emptio enim contrahitur etiam si nihil inciderit, quia spei emptio est: et quod missilium nomine eo casu captum est si euictum fuerit, nulla eo nomine ex empto obligatio contrahitur, quia id actum intellegitur.
This happens when the catch of fish, birds, or largesse is purchased; for the purchase is contracted even if nothing is caught, because it is the purchase of a hope; and if what is caught in that case under the name of largesse is evicted, no obligation on the purchase is contracted on that account, because that is understood to have been the agreement.

Notes

  1. §18.1.8.prquae ueneat — The present subjunctive 3rd person singular of ueneo (to be sold). Used in the relative clause as a subjunctive of characteristic, defining the nature of the object as 'something that is capable of being sold' rather than just a specific existing thing.
  2. §18.1.8.prid egerit... ne nascatur aut fiant — The future perfect (or perfect subjunctive) egerit of ago combined with the negative purpose/volitive conjunction ne, meaning 'to act with the intention of preventing...'. The singular verb nascatur agrees with the singular noun partus (offspring), while the plural fiant agrees with the plural noun fructus (fruits), showing individual agreement with each subject.
  3. §18.1.8.1spei emptio — Meaning 'purchase of a hope'. The genitive spei functions as a genitive of definition or objective genitive, indicating that the object of the transaction is not a concrete physical thing but the 'mere expectation of obtaining something'.
  4. §18.1.8.1quod... captum est si euictum fuerit — The relative clause 'quod missilium nomine eo casu captum est' (what was caught in that case under the name of largesse) functions as the subject of the conditional clause 'si euictum fuerit' (if it should be evicted). The main clause is 'nulla... obligatio contrahitur', creating a syntax where no liability arises even if the acquired item is evicted.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.1.8.pr-18.1.8.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.1.8.pr-18.1.8.1

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