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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §19.1.54.pr-19.1.54.1

Injury to Sold Slave before Delivery and Buried Jars

Passage 2820 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the allocation of risk and the seller's liability when a sold slave is injured by the seller's order before delivery, and the rules of delivery when there is a surplus or shortage of buried jars that accompany the sold land.

[IDEM libro secundo pithanon. ] §19.1.54.prSi seruus quem uendideras iussu tuo aliquid fecit et ex eo crus fregit, ita demum ea res tuo periculo non est, si id imperasti, quod solebat ante uenditionem facere, et si id imperasti, quod etiam non uendito seruo imperaturus eras.
[The same (Labeo) in the second book of his Probabilities.] If a slave whom you had sold did something by your order and as a result broke a leg, only in these cases is the matter not at your risk: if you ordered that which he was accustomed to do before the sale, and if you ordered that which you would have ordered even if the slave had not been sold.
PAULUS: minime: nam si periculosam rem ante uenditionem facere solitus est, culpa tua id factum esse uidebitur: puta enim eum fuisse seruum, qui per catadromum descendere aut in cloacam demitti solitus esset.
PAULUS: By no means; for if he was accustomed to do a dangerous thing before the sale, it will be deemed to have occurred through your fault; for suppose him to have been a slave who was accustomed to slide down a rope or to be lowered into a sewer.
idem iuris erit, si eam rem imperare solitus fueris, quam prudens et diligens pater familias imperaturus ei seruo non fuerit.
The same rule of law will apply, if you were accustomed to order that which a prudent and diligent head of a household would not have ordered that slave to do.
quid si hoc exceptum fuerit? tamen potest ei seruo nouam rem imperare, quam imperaturus non fuisset, si non uenisset: ueluti si ei imperasti, ut ad emptorem iret, qui peregre esset: nam certe ea res tuo periculo esse non debet.
What if this was excepted? Nevertheless, he can order the slave to do a new thing which he would not have ordered if the slave had not been sold; as, for instance, if you ordered him to go to the buyer who was abroad; for certainly that matter ought not to be at your risk.
itaque tota ea res ad dolum malum dumtaxat et culpam uenditoris dirigenda est.
Therefore, the whole of this matter must be directed solely to the fraud and fault of the seller.
§19.1.54.1Si dolia octoginta accedere fundo, quae infossa essent, dictum erit, et plura erunt quam ad eum numerum, dabit emptori ex omnibus quae uult, dum integra det: si sola octoginta sunt, qualiacumque emptorem sequentur nec pro non integris quicquam ei uenditor praestabit.
If it has been stated that eighty jars, which were buried, should go with the land, and there are more than that number, the seller shall give the buyer whichever ones the buyer wants out of them all, provided that he gives undamaged ones; if there are only eighty, they will go to the buyer in whatever condition they are, nor shall the seller make good anything to him for those which are not undamaged.

Notes

  1. 19.1.54.prita demum — The adverbial phrase `ita demum` (only then, only if) introduces and limits the two subsequent `si` clauses (`si id imperasti...` and `et si id imperasti...`). It means that the risk is not with the seller only when both conditions are met.
  2. 19.1.54.prexceptum fuerit — The verb `excipere` here refers to an "exception or reservation by special agreement" in the contract of sale. Paulus asks what would happen if there had been a special agreement exempting or allowing the seller to issue such dangerous orders.
  3. 19.1.54.prnon uenisset — Subjunctive pluperfect third-person singular of `ueneo` (to be sold). It represents a past contrafactual condition ("if he had not been sold") with the omission of the conjunction `si`.
  4. 19.1.54.1dum integra det — The conjunction `dum` with the subjunctive present `det` introduces a proviso ("provided that he gives..."). The adjective `integra` is neuter plural accusative, agreeing with the implied object `dolia`, meaning "undamaged ones."
  5. 19.1.54.1sequentur — The verb `sequi` (to follow) is used as a legal term meaning "to go to, accrue to, or belong to." Here it signifies that the jars automatically follow the transfer of the land and become the property of the buyer.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §19.1.54.pr-19.1.54.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:19.1.54.pr-19.1.54.1

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