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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.15.1.pr

Distinction Between Compromise and Gratuitous Release

Passage 429 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian defines the fundamental difference between a compromise (transactio), which assumes a doubtful or unresolved dispute, and an agreement (pactum), which gratuitously releases a certain and undisputed right.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagensimo ad edictum. ] §2.15.1.prQui transigit, quasi de re dubia et lite incerta neque finita transigit.
[ULPIANUS in the fiftieth book on the Edict.] He who makes a compromise does so as if concerning a doubtful matter and an uncertain and unfinished litigation.
qui uero paciscitur, donationis causa rem certam et indubitatam liberalitate remittit.
But he who makes an agreement, for the sake of a gift, releases by way of liberality a certain and undoubted matter.

Notes

  1. §2.15.1.prQui transigit — A relative clause with the antecedent (is) omitted, serving as the subject of the main verb transigit. It refers to "one who makes a compromise (transactio)" as a legal act, contrasted with "one who makes an agreement (pactum)" (qui paciscitur) in the latter part of the section.
  2. §2.15.1.prdonationis causa — The ablative of the noun causa modified by the genitive donationis (of a gift), placed postpositively to function as an idiomatic expression meaning "for the sake of a gift" or "by way of donation."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.15.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.15.1.pr

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