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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §19.1.45.pr-19.1.45.2

Reimbursement of Expenses upon Eviction and Patronage Rights

Passage 2811 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section addresses the allocation of risks and expenses for buildings on evicted land and evicted slaves, and determines the patronage rights over a freedwoman who rejects the buyer.

[PAULUS libro quinto quaestionum. ] §19.1.45.pridque et Iulianum agitasse Africanus refert: quod iustum est: sicut minuitur praestatio, si seruus deterior apud emptorem effectus sit, cum euincitur.
[PAULUS in the fifth book of Questions] And Africanus reports that Julian also discussed this; which is just, just as the liability is reduced if a slave has become of worse quality while with the buyer when he is evicted.
§19.1.45.1Illud expeditius uidebatur, si mihi alienam aream uendideris et in eam ego aedificauero atque ita eam dominus euincit: nam quia possim petentem dominum, nisi impensam aedificiorum soluat, doli mali exceptione summouere, magis est, ut ea res ad periculum uenditoris non pertineat.
The following seemed more straightforward: if you have sold me another's plot of land and I have built upon it, and then the owner evicts it. For since I can bar the claiming owner with the plea of fraud unless he pays the cost of the buildings, it is more correct that this matter should not pertain to the risk of the seller.
quod et in seruo dicendum est, si in seruitutem, non in libertatem euinceretur, ut dominus mercedes et impensas praestare debeat.
This must also be said in the case of a slave, if he were evicted into slavery and not into freedom, so that the owner must pay wages and expenses.
quod si emptor non possideat aedificium uel seruum, ex empto habebit actionem.
But if the buyer does not possess the building or the slave, he will have an action on purchase.
in omnibus tamen his casibus, si sciens quis alienum uendiderit, omnimodo teneri debet.
In all these cases, however, if someone knowingly sold another's property, he must be held liable in any event.
§19.1.45.2Superest tertia deliberatio, cuius debet esse liberta Arescesa, quae recusat emptorem.
There remains a third deliberation: whose freedwoman Arescesa, who rejects the buyer, ought to be.
et non sine ratione dicetur eius debere effici libertam, a quo uendita est, id est heredis, quia et ipse ex empto actione tenetur: sed hoc ita, si non Arescesa elegerit emptoris patronatum: tunc etenim et illius remanet liberta et ille ex empto actionem non habet, quia nihil eius interest, cum eam libertam habet.
And it will be said not without reason that she ought to become the freedwoman of the person by whom she was sold, that is, the heir, because he himself is also held liable by the action on purchase. But this is so only if Arescesa has not chosen the patronage of the buyer; for in that case, she remains his freedwoman, and he does not have an action on purchase, because it is of no interest to him since he has her as a freedwoman.

Notes

  1. §19.1.45.1magis est — The impersonal expression `magis est ut` with the subjunctive means "it is more reasonable that" or "the better view is that."
  2. §19.1.45.1doli mali exceptione summouere — "To bar (the claiming owner) by the plea of fraud." `exceptione` is an ablative of means, and `summouere` is an infinitive governed by `possim` in the causal clause introduced by `quia`.
  3. §19.1.45.2nihil eius interest — The impersonal verb `interest` takes the genitive of the person concerned (here `eius`, referring to the buyer) to express "it concerns" or "it is of importance to." `nihil` is an adverbial accusative meaning "not at all."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §19.1.45.pr-19.1.45.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:19.1.45.pr-19.1.45.2

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