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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.6.2.pr-18.6.2.1

Merchant's Casks and Custody Liability Before Measurement

Passage 2735 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The jurist discusses the criteria for emptying containers when the seller is a wine merchant, and examines the degree of the seller's liability for custody before measurement, debating whether it is limited to fraud or requires high diligence.

[GAIUS libro secundo cottidianarum rerum. ] §18.6.2.prHoc ita uerum est, si is est uenditor, cui sine noua uindemia non sint ista uasa necessaria: si uero mercator est, qui emere uina et uendere solet, is dies spectandus est, quo ex commodo uenditoris tolli possint.
[GAIUS, in Book 2 on Daily Affairs.] This is true only if the seller is such a person that those vessels are not necessary for him unless there is a new vintage. But if he is a merchant who is accustomed to buy and sell wines, that day is to be regarded on which they can be taken away with convenience to the seller.
§18.6.2.1Custodiam autem ante admetiendi diem qualem praestare uenditorem oporteat, utrum plenam, ut et diligentiam praestet, an uero dolum dumtaxat, uideamus.
Now, let us see what kind of custody the seller ought to provide before the day of measurement; whether a full one, so that he also provides diligence, or indeed only for fraud.
et puto eam diligentiam uenditorem exhibere debere, ut fatale damnum uel uis magna sit excusatum.
And I think that the seller ought to exhibit such diligence that only fatal damage or vis major is excused.

Notes

  1. §18.6.2.prcui sine noua uindemia non sint ista uasa necessaria — The word 'cui' is the dative singular of the relative pronoun 'qui', functioning as a dative of possession or reference in relation to the antecedent 'is uenditor' ('for which seller those vessels are not necessary').
  2. §18.6.2.1Custodiam autem ante admetiendi diem qualem praestare uenditorem oporteat... uideamus. — The main verb 'uideamus' (hortatory subjunctive) governs the indirect question clause introduced by 'qualem... oporteat'. Within this indirect question, the accusative with infinitive construction ('uenditorem praestare') serves as the subject of the impersonal verb 'oporteat', with its object phrase ('Custodiam qualem') placed at the beginning of the sentence by hyperbaton.
  3. §18.6.2.1ut fatale damnum uel uis magna sit excusatum — The conjunction 'ut' introduces a clause of result or degree. The predicate adjective 'excusatum' is in the neuter singular, despite the compound subject consisting of 'fatale damnum' (neuter) and 'uis magna' (feminine). This is due either to attraction to the closer noun 'damnum' or because the combined subject is conceptualized as a single neuter idea of 'an excused event'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.6.2.pr-18.6.2.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.6.2.pr-18.6.2.1

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