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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.6.12.pr

Destruction of Sold Building by Fire and Seller Diligence

Passage 2745 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Regarding the seller's liability for fault when a sold building is burned down, it is answered that the seller is not liable if they exercised standard diligence, taking into account the negligence of slaves or the possibility of an accidental fire.

[ALFENUS VARUS libro secundo digestorum. ] §18.6.12.prSi uendita insula combusta esset, cum incendium sine culpa fieri non possit, quid iuris sit? respondit: quia sine patris familias culpa fieri potest neque, si seruorum neglegentia factum esset, continuo dominus in culpa erit, quam ob rem si uenditor eam diligentiam adhibuisset in insula custodienda, quam debent homines frugi et diligentes praestare, si quid accidisset, nihil ad eum pertinebit.
[ALFENUS VARUS in the second book of the Digests.] If a sold insula was burned, since a fire cannot occur without fault, what is the law? He answered: Because it can occur without the fault of a paterfamilias, and even if it should have occurred through the negligence of slaves, the master will not immediately be at fault; wherefore, if the seller had exercised such diligence in guarding the insula as honest and diligent men ought to provide, if anything should have happened, nothing will pertain to him.

Notes

  1. §18.6.12.prcum incendium sine culpa fieri non possit — A cum clause with the subjunctive present possit, presenting the premise assumed by the questioner (the claim that a fire must necessarily occur through someone's fault).
  2. §18.6.12.prsi seruorum neglegentia factum esset, continuo dominus in culpa erit — A mixed conditional sentence using the subjunctive pluperfect factum esset in the condition and the indicative future erit in the conclusion, stating a general legal consequence in response to a specific assumed past negligence.
  3. §18.6.12.prsi uenditor eam diligentiam adhibuisset ... nihil ad eum pertinebit — Another mixed conditional sentence with the subjunctive pluperfect in the conditional clauses (adhibuisset, accidisset) and the indicative future in the main clause (pertinebit), showing that if the seller had exercised the required diligence, no legal liability will affect him.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.6.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.6.12.pr

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