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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.14.8.pr

Criteria for Determining the Majority among Creditors

Passage 374 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the criteria for determining the majority in agreements among creditors, prioritizing the amount of debt, the number of persons, and social standing in turn, and dictates that if all conditions are equal, the more humane opinion should be chosen.

[PAPINIANUS libro decimo responsorum. ] §2.14.8.prMaiorem esse partem pro modo debiti, non pro numero personarum placuit.
[PAPINIAN, Opinions, book 10] It has been decided that the majority is to be determined according to the proportion of the debt, not according to the number of persons.
quod si aequales sint in cumulo debiti, tunc plurium numerus creditorum praeferendus est.
But if they are equal in the total amount of the debt, then the larger number of creditors is to be preferred.
in numero autem pari creditorum auctoritatem eius sequetur praetor, qui dignitate inter eo: praecellit.
However, if the number of creditors is also equal, the praetor will follow the authority of the one who excels among them in social standing.
sin autem omnia undique in unam aequalitatem concurrant, humanior sententia a praetore eligenda est.
But if all things on every side concur in complete equality, the more humane opinion must be chosen by the praetor.
hoc enim ex diui Marci rescripto colligi potest.
For this can be inferred from a rescript of the Divine Marcus.

Notes

  1. 2.14.8.prMaiorem esse partem — This is an accusative with infinitive construction (subject: maiorem partem, infinitive: esse) forming the subject clause of the impersonal main verb "placuit". "pro modo debiti" means "according to the proportion of the debt".
  2. 2.14.8.printer eo: — This is considered a scribal or typographical error for "inter eos". Based on the context and grammar (the preposition "inter" governs the accusative case), it is translated as "among them".
  3. 2.14.8.prsin autem omnia undique in unam aequalitatem concurrant — This is a conditional clause expressing a hypothesis using the present subjunctive "concurrant". It is a metaphorical expression meaning "all things (omnia) from all sides (undique) converge into a single equality (unam aequalitatem)", signifying that all conditions such as the amount of debt, the number of persons, and social standing are completely identical.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.14.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.14.8.pr

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