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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §20.4.1.pr-20.4.1.1

Priority of Pledge for Dowry Return Paid in Installments

Passage 2964 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Concerning the effective date of a pledge given to secure the return of a dowry when payments are made in installments, which is established at the time of the promise, and the different rule applied to a pledge conditioned on a future payment.

[PAPINIANUS libro octauo quaestionum. ] §20.4.1.prQui dotem pro muliere promisit, pignus siue hypothecam de restituenda sibi dote accepit: subsecuta deinde pro parte numeratione maritus eandem rem pignori alii dedit: mox residuae quantitatis numeratio impleta est: quaerebatur de pignore.
[PAPINIANUS, in his eighth book of Questions.] A person who promised a dowry on behalf of a woman received a pledge or hypothec for the dowry to be restored to him. Subsequently, after a partial payment had followed, the husband gave the same property as a pledge to another person. Soon after, the payment of the remaining amount was completed. A question was raised concerning the pledge.
cum ex causa promissionis ad uniuersae quantitatis exsolutionem qui dotem promisit compellitur, non utique solutionum obseruanda sunt tempora, sed dies contractae obligationis.
Since the person who promised the dowry is compelled, by reason of his promise, to pay the entire amount, it is not the times of the payments that must be observed, but rather the date of the contracted obligation.
nec probe dici in potestate eius esse, ne pecuniam residuam redderet, ut minus dotata mulier esse uideatur.
Nor can it be properly said that it is within his power not to pay the remaining money, so that the woman might appear to be less amply endowed.
§20.4.1.1Alia causa est eius, qui pignus accepit ad eam summam, quam intra diem certum numerasset, ac forte prius, quam numeraret, alii res pignori data est.
The case is different for a person who received a pledge for a sum which he was to pay within a certain day, and before he made the payment, the property happened to be given as a pledge to another.

Notes

  1. §20.4.1.prnec probe dici in potestate eius esse, ne pecuniam residuam redderet — dici is a passive infinitive, used impersonally with an implied modal verb like "potest" ("it cannot be properly said"). Its subject is the accusative-with-infinitive clause "in potestate eius esse" (that it is within his power), with the "ne" clause ("ne... redderet") indicating the content of that power. Since the promisor is legally compelled to pay, he does not have the unilateral discretion to withhold the remainder of the dowry.
  2. §20.4.1.1Alia causa est eius — eius is the antecedent of the relative pronoun "qui" and functions as a possessive genitive modifying "causa". This is a formulaic expression used to contrast different cases: "The case of him who... is different."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §20.4.1.pr-20.4.1.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:20.4.1.pr-20.4.1.1

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