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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.1.13.pr-22.1.13.1

Defense against higher interest and exemption for idle money

Passage 3173 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses how a creditor's heir is barred by exceptions from claiming the original higher interest rate if the debtor paid a lower rate for years without default, and confirms that in actions on business management or mandate, no interest is owed on idle money kept according to the principal's custom.

[SCAEUOLA libro primo responsorum. ] §22.1.13.prQui semisses usuras promissit, per multos annos minores praestitit: heres creditoris semisses petit.
A person who had promised interest at the rate of six percent paid a lower rate for many years; the heir of the creditor demands the six percent.
cum per debitorem non steterit, quo minus minores soluat, quaero an exceptio doli uel pacti obstet.
Since it was not due to the debtor's fault that he paid the lower rate, I ask whether the exception of fraud or of agreement is an obstacle.
respondi, si exsoluendis ex more usuris per tanta tempora mora per debitorem non fuit, posse secundum ea, quae proponerentur obstare exceptionem.
I answered that if, in paying interest according to custom, there was no default on the part of the debtor for so long a time, the exception could, according to the facts presented, stand in the way.
§22.1.13.1Quaesitum est, an iudicio negotiorum gestorum uel mandati pro pecunia otiosa usuras praestare debeat, cum dominus nullam pecuniam faenerauit.
The question was asked whether, in an action on business management or on mandate, one ought to pay interest for idle money, when the owner himself had lent out no money.
respondit, si eam pecuniam positam habuisset idque ex consuetudine mandantis fecisset, non debere quicquam usurarum nomine praestare.
He answered that if he had kept that money deposited, and had done so in accordance with the custom of the mandator, he ought not to pay anything under the head of interest.

Notes

  1. 22.1.13.prsemisses usuras — The phrase semisses usurae (using the plural of semis, meaning one-half) refers to interest at the rate of one-half percent per month, which is equivalent to six percent per year in the Roman interest calculation system.
  2. 22.1.13.prper debitorem non steterit, quo minus... — The idiom per aliquem stat quo minus (+ subjunctive) means 'it is due to someone that... not' or 'someone prevents...'. With the negative non, it means 'it was not due to the debtor's fault that he paid the lower rate', indicating that the debtor was not in default.
  3. 22.1.13.prsi exsoluendis ex more usuris per tanta tempora mora per debitorem non fuit — The phrase exsoluendis ... usuris is a dative gerundive construction indicating the scope or purpose of the default (mora), i.e., 'in paying the interest'. The prepositional phrase per debitorem points to the debtor as the party responsible for the default.
  4. 22.1.13.1positam habuisset — The analytical construction positam habere (the past participle positam combined with habere) emphasizes the continuous state of the money having been 'placed' or 'kept deposited' (idle) by the manager.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.1.13.pr-22.1.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.1.13.pr-22.1.13.1

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