Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.13.7.pr-2.13.7.1

Just Grounds for Repeated Production of Accounts

Passage 359 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage illustrates specific excusable circumstances for demanding a second production of accounts and explains that the term 'iterum' (again) in the Edict can mean not only a second time but also repeatedly as often as necessary.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad edictum. ] §2.13.7.prueluti si peregre habere quod primum editum est doceat: uel minus plene editum: uel eas rationes, quas casu maiore, non uero neglegentia perdiderit.

[PAULUS, on the Edict, book 3] As, for instance, if he shows that he has in a foreign country what was first produced, or that it was produced less than fully, or that he lost those accounts by a major accident, and not indeed by negligence.

nam si eo casu amisit, cui ignosci debeat, ex integro edi iubebit.

For if he lost them by such an accident as ought to be excused, the Praetor will order them to be produced anew.

§2.13.7.1Haec uox iterum duas res significat: alteram, qua demonstraretur tempus secundum, quod Graeci Δεύτερον dicunt: alteram, quae ad insequentia quoque tempora pertinet, quae Graece dicitur πάλιν, quod ita accipitur ‘quotiens opus erit’.

This word 'iterum' (again) means two things: one, by which the second time is indicated, which the Greeks call 'deuteron'; the other, which belongs also to subsequent times, which is called 'palin' in Greek, which is understood as 'as often as there is need'.

nam potest fieri ut bis editam sibi rationem quis perdiderit: ut uerbum iterum pro saepius accipiatur.

For it can happen that someone has lost an account produced to him twice, so that the word 'iterum' is accepted in place of 'more often'.

Notes

2.13.7.pruel minus plene editum — An elliptical expression contained within the conditional clause introduced by si and governed by doceat. It is to be understood as uel [si id quod primum editum est] minus plene editum [esse doceat] ("or if he shows that what was first produced was produced less than fully").
2.13.7.prcasu maiore — Literally "greater accident", a legal term referring to force majeure or unforeseen disasters (such as shipwreck or fire). In contrast with neglegentia (negligence), it defines the kind of excusable accident (eo casu... cui ignosci debeat) that justifies a new production.
2.13.7.1ut uerbum iterum pro saepius accipiatur — This ut clause expresses a result or a logical conclusion drawn from the preceding sentence (nam potest fieri ut...). The comparative saepius is used as an absolute comparative meaning "more often" or "repeatedly", explaining that the word iterum (again) can be interpreted broadly to cover multiple times (quotiens opus erit).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.13.7.pr-2.13.7.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.13.7.pr-2.13.7.1

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