[GAIUS libro decimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §19.2.25.prSi merces promissa sit generaliter alieno arbitrio, locatio et conductio contrahi non uidetur: sin autem quanti Titius aestimauerit, sub hac condicione stare locationem, ut, si quidem ipse qui nominatus est mercedem definierit, omnimodo secundum eius aestimationem et mercedem persolui oporteat et conductionem ad effectum peruenire: sin autem ille uel noluerit uel non potuerit mercedem definire, tunc pro nihilo esse conductionem quasi nulla mercede statuta.
[GAIUS, On the Provincial Edict, book 10] If the rent is promised generally at the discretion of a third party, the lease does not seem to be contracted; but if it is "for as much as Titius shall estimate," the lease stands under this condition, that: if indeed the very person who was named determines the rent, the rent must by all means be paid according to his estimation, and the lease must come into effect; but if he either will not or cannot determine the rent, then the lease is of no effect, as if no rent had been established.
§19.2.25.1Qui fundum fruendum uel habitationem alicui locauit, si aliqua ex causa fundum uel aedes uendat, curare debet, ut apud emptorem quoque eadem pactione et colono frui et inquilino habitare liceat: alioquin prohibitus is aget cum eo ex conducto.
He who has leased a tract of land to someone for enjoyment or a dwelling for habitation, if for any reason he sells the land or the house, must see to it that under the buyer also, by the same agreement, the tenant farmer is allowed to enjoy and the house tenant is allowed to inhabit; otherwise, the person prevented will bring an action on the lease against him.
§19.2.25.2Si uicino aedificante obscurentur lumina cenaculi, teneri locatorem inquilino: certe quin liceat colono uel inquilino relinquere conductionem, nulla dubitatio est.
If the lights of an upper room are obscured by a neighbor building, the lessor is held liable to the tenant; certainly, there is no doubt that the tenant farmer or house tenant is allowed to abandon the lease.
de mercedibus quoque si cum eo agatur, reputationis ratio habenda est.
Also, if an action is brought against him concerning the rent, account must be taken of a deduction.
eadem intellegemus, si ostia fenestrasue nimium corruptas locator non restituat.
We shall understand the same if the lessor does not restore doors or windows that are excessively damaged.
§19.2.25.3Conductor omnia secundum legem conductionis facere debet. et ante omnia colonus curare debet, ut opera rustica suo quoque tempore faciat, ne intempestiua cultura deteriorem fundum faceret.
The lessee must do everything according to the terms of the lease; and above all, the tenant farmer must see to it that he performs agricultural operations at their proper times, lest untimely cultivation should make the land worse.
praeterea uillarum curam agere debet, ut eas incorruptas habeat.
Furthermore, he must take care of the farmhouses so as to keep them undamaged.
§19.2.25.4Culpae autem ipsius et illud adnumeratur, si propter inimicitias eius uicinus arbores exciderit.
Moreover, it is also imputed to his own fault if, because of his enmities, a neighbor cuts down trees.
§19.2.25.5Ipse quoque si exciderit, non solum ex locato tenetur, sed etiam lege Aquilia et ex lege duodecim tabularum arborum furtim caesarum et interdicto quod ui aut clam: sed utique iudicis, qui ex locato iudicat, officio continetur, ut ceteras actiones locator omittat.
If he himself cuts them down, he is held liable not only on the lease, but also under the Lex Aquilia, and under the Law of the Twelve Tables concerning the stealthy cutting of trees, and under the interdict concerning what is done by force or stealth; but in any case, it is within the duty of the judge who decides on the lease to see that the lessor waives the other actions.
§19.2.25.6Uis maior, quam Graeci θεοῦ βίαν appellant, non debet conductori damnosa esse, si plus, quam tolerabile est, laesi fuerint fructus: alioquin modicum damnum aequo animo ferre debet colonus, cui immodicum lucrum non aufertur.
Force majeure, which the Greeks call "force of God," ought not to be damaging to the lessee if the fruits have been damaged more than is tolerable; otherwise, a tenant farmer, from whom immoderate profit is not taken away, must bear a moderate loss with an equal mind.
apparet autem de eo nos colono dicere, qui ad pecuniam numeratam conduxit: alioquin partiarius colonus quasi societatis iure et damnum et lucrum cum domino fundi partitur.
But it is clear that we are saying this concerning a tenant farmer who leased for a cash sum; otherwise, a share-cropping tenant, as if by the law of partnership, shares both loss and profit with the owner of the land.
§19.2.25.7Qui columnam transportandam conduxit, si ea, dum tollitur aut portatur aut reponitur, fracta sit, ita id periculum praestat, si qua ipsius eorumque, quorum opera uteretur, culpa acciderit: culpa autem abest, si omnia facta sunt, quae diligentissimus quisque obseruaturus fuisset.
He who has undertaken to transport a column, if it is broken while being raised, carried, or set down, is liable for that risk only if some fault of his own or of those whose labor he used has occurred; but fault is absent if everything has been done which any most diligent person would have observed.
idem scilicet intellegemus et si dolia uel tignum transportandum aliquis conduxerit: idemque etiam ad ceteras res transferri potest.
We shall of course understand the same if someone has undertaken to transport jars or a beam; and the same can also be transferred to other things.
§19.2.25.8Si fullo aut sarcinator uestimenta perdiderit eoque nomine domino satisfecerit, necesse est domino uindicationem eorum et condictionem cedere.
If a fuller or a tailor has lost clothes and has satisfied the owner on that account, the owner must cede to him the action for recovery of the property and the action for its return.