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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.5.8.pr

Procurator's Signature and Slave's Land Sale Unaware of Inheritance

Passage 2731 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses whether a person who signed as a procurator for a sale of land by an inheritance slave, without knowing of the decedent's death and his own designation as heir, can subsequently withdraw from the sale, and what liabilities he faces.

[SCAEUOLA libro secundo responsorum. ] §18.5.8.prTitius Seii procurator defuncto Seio ab eo scriptus heres, cum ignoraret, fundum uendente seruo hereditario, quasi procurator subscripsit: quaesitum est, an cognito eo, priusquam emptio perficeretur, a uenditione discedere possit.
[SCAEVOLA, in Book 2 of Responses.] Titius, the procurator of Seius, having been designated heir by Seius after the latter's death, since he was unaware of this, signed as if he were procurator while an inheritance slave was selling a tract of land. The question was raised whether, upon learning of this and before the sale was completed, he could withdraw from the sale.
respondit Titium, si non ipse uendidit, non idcirco actionibus ciuilibus teneri, quod seruo uendente subscripserat, sed serui nomine praetoria actione teneri.
He answered that if Titius did not sell the land himself, he is not bound by civil actions merely because he had signed while the slave was selling, but he is bound by a praetorian action in the name of the slave.

Notes

  1. §18.5.8.prcognito eo — Ablative absolute. The neuter singular pronoun eo refers to the fact that Titius had been designated heir (scriptus heres) by the deceased Seius, as mentioned above.
  2. §18.5.8.prnon idcirco ... quod — A correlative construction meaning "not ... for the reason that ...". It explains that Titius does not become a direct contracting party (bound by civil law) merely by the fact that he signed during the slave's sale.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.5.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.5.8.pr

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