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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.14.21.pr-2.14.21.5

Pacts in Rem or in Personam and Agreements by Dependents

Passage 387 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the limitations of pacts made by slaves, dependents, and children under power, and addresses how agreements in rem or in personam affect joint debtors and sureties.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad edictum. ] §2.14.21.pret heredi patris uiuo filio: post mortem uero filii nec patri nec heredi eius, quia personale pactum est.
[PAULUS, On the Edict, book 3] and to the heir of the father while the son is living; but after the death of the son, neither to the father nor to his heir, because it is a personal pact.
§2.14.21.1Quod si seruus, ne a se peteretur, pactus fuerit, nihil ualebit pactum: de doli exceptione uideamus.
But if a slave should agree that no claim be made against himself, the pact will be of no validity; let us consider the exception of fraud.
et si in rem paciscatur, proderit domino et heredi eius pacti conuenti exceptio: quod si in personam pactum conceptum est, tunc domino doli superest exceptio.
And if he agrees in rem, the exception of an agreed pact will benefit the master and his heir; but if the pact was conceived in personam, then the exception of fraud remains for the master.
§2.14.21.2Nos autem his, qui in nostra potestate sunt, paciscendo prodesse non possumus: sed nobis id profuturum, si nomine eorum conueniamur, Proculus ait: quod ita recte dicitur, si in paciscendo id actum sit.
However, we cannot benefit those who are in our power by making an agreement; but Proculus says that it will benefit us if we are sued in their name; which is rightly said in this way, if that was intended in the making of the agreement.
ceterum si paciscar, ne a Titio petas, deinde actionem aduersus me nomine eius instituas, non est danda pacti conuenti exceptio: nam quod ipsi inutile est, nec defensori competit.
Otherwise, if I agree that you do not claim from Titius, and then you bring an action against me in his name, the exception of an agreed pact is not to be granted; for what is useless to the person himself is not available to his defender either.
§2.14.21.3Filia familias pacisci potest, ne de dote agat, cum sui iuris esse coeperit.
A daughter under power can agree not to sue for her dowry when she begins to be sui iuris.
§2.14.21.4Item filius familias de eo, quod sub condicione legatum est, recte paciscetur.
Likewise, a son under power will rightly agree concerning that which has been bequeathed under a condition.
§2.14.21.5In his, qui eiusdem pecuniae exactionem habent in solidum uel qui eiusdem pecuniae debitores sunt, quatenus alii quoque prosit uel noceat pacti exceptio, quaeritur.
Among those who have the collection of the same money in full, or who are debtors of the same money, it is questioned to what extent the exception of a pact also benefits or harms another.
et in rem pacta omnibus prosunt, quorum obligationem dissolutam esse eius qui paciscebatur interfuit.
And pacts in rem benefit all those whose interest it was that the obligation be dissolved by the one who was agreeing.
itaque debitoris conuentio fideiussoribus proficiet,
Therefore, the agreement of the debtor will benefit the sureties,

Notes

  1. 2.14.21.pruiuo filio — An ablative absolute consisting of a noun and an adjective ("while the son is living"), functioning temporally or conditionally.
  2. 2.14.21.1quod si — A conjunctive usage meaning "But if..." that links with the preceding sentence, introducing a transitional conditional clause to present a new case.
  3. 2.14.21.2quod ipsi inutile est, nec defensori competit — The relative pronoun `quod` forms a nominal clause without an explicit antecedent ("what is useless to the person himself"), which also serves as the subject for the second clause with `competit`. `ipsi` (dative) refers to Titius.
  4. 2.14.21.5quorum obligationem dissolutam esse eius qui paciscebatur interfuit — The impersonal verb `interfuit` (it was in the interest of) takes a genitive of the person concerned (`eius`) and an accusative-with-infinitive clause (`obligationem dissolutam esse`) as its subject. The relative pronoun `quorum` (genitive plural) modifies `obligationem`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.14.21.pr-2.14.21.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.14.21.pr-2.14.21.5

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