Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.3.44.pr-23.3.44.1

Dowry Promise after Emancipation and Debts of Sons-in-Power

Passage 3418 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the persistence of a dowry promise when a father emancipates his daughter or dies before marriage, and the legal effects and valuation of peculium when a debt owed by a son-in-power is designated as a dowry.

[IULIANUS libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §23.3.44.prSi pater filiae nomine dotem promisisset et eam ante nuptias emancipasset, non resoluitur promissio: nam et cum ante nuptias pater moreretur, nihilo minus heredes eius ex promissione obligati manebunt.
[JULIAN in the sixteenth book of the Digests.] If a father had promised a dowry on behalf of his daughter and had emancipated her before the marriage, the promise is not dissolved; for even if the father should die before the marriage, his heirs will nevertheless remain obligated under the promise.
§23.3.44.1Quae debitorem filium familias habet, si patri eius ita dotem promiserit: 'quod mihi debes uel quod mihi filius tuus debet, doti tibi erunt', non obligatur, sed efficit, ut id, quod actione de peculio seruari a patre poterat, in dote sit.
A woman who has a son-in-power as her debtor, if she promises a dowry to his father in this way: "What you owe me or what your son owes me shall be a dowry for you," is not newly obligated, but she brings it about that what could have been recovered from the father by the action on the peculium is included in the dowry.
MARCELLUS. Siue igitur cum filio post hac siue cum patre agere instituerit, exceptione pacti conuenti summouebitur: actione autem de dote si experietur, consequetur quod in peculio fuisse apparuerit eo tempore quo dos promittebatur: utique si post nuptias promissa dos est.
MARCELLUS. Therefore, whether she undertakes to bring an action after this against the son or against the father, she will be barred by the exception of an agreed pact; but if she sues with the action on the dowry, she will obtain what appears to have been in the peculium at the time when the dowry was promised; at any rate, if the dowry was promised after the marriage.
nam dote ante nuptias promissa eius temporis peculium aestimari debet, quo nuptiae fierent.
For if the dowry was promised before the marriage, the peculium at the time when the marriage took place ought to be appraised.

Notes

  1. §23.3.44.prfiliae nomine — "In the name of the daughter." The ablative noun 'nomine' combined with a genitive functions as an idiomatic expression meaning "on behalf of" or "for the sake of."
  2. §23.3.44.1Quae — The feminine singular nominative relative pronoun. Its antecedent (such as 'mulier') is omitted, making the entire relative clause function as the subject of the sentence ("A woman who..."). The main verbs of the sentence are 'non obligatur' and 'efficit'.
  3. §23.3.44.1doti tibi erunt — A double dative construction. 'Doti' is a dative of purpose ("as a dowry"), and 'tibi' is a dative of reference or benefit ("for you"). The subject of 'erunt' is the preceding relative clauses introduced by 'quod'.
  4. §23.3.44.1exceptione pacti conuenti — An ablative of means meaning "by the exception of an agreed pact." Since there was an agreement (pactum) to turn the debt into a dowry, any subsequent attempt to sue for the original debt contrary to this agreement will be barred by the defendant's procedural defense (exceptio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.3.44.pr-23.3.44.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.3.44.pr-23.3.44.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.