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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.3.77.pr

Pledge of Husband's Debt as Dowry and Subsequent Interest

Passage 3451 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

If a woman promises as a dowry the debt owed to her with interest by her future husband, the interest accruing after the marriage is not part of the dowry, because the main obligation is extinguished upon marriage.

[IDEM libro decimo disputationum. ] §23.3.77.prSi mulier debitori suo, qui sub usuris debebat, nuptura dotem promississet quod is sibi deberet, post contractas nuptias secuti temporis usuras non esse dotales, quia illa obligatio tota tolleretur, perinde ac si solutum debitum mulieri in dotem ab ea datum esset.
[THE SAME in the tenth book of Disputations.] If a woman, about to marry her debtor who owed her money with interest, had promised as a dowry what he owed her, the interest for the subsequent period after the marriage was contracted does not form part of the dowry, because that entire obligation would be extinguished, just as if the debt paid to the woman had been given by her as a dowry.

Notes

  1. §23.3.77.prnon esse dotales — The main clause is expressed in indirect speech with an accusative and infinitive (non esse), which is a standard elliptical formula in juristic opinions where a governing verb of declaring (such as respondit) is understood.
  2. §23.3.77.prquod is sibi deberet — This is a relative clause serving as the direct object of promississet, with quod as the neuter accusative relative pronoun. The subjunctive deberet is used because it is a subordinate clause within indirect speech (the content of the woman's promise).
  3. §23.3.77.prsecuti temporis — The genitive of secutus, the perfect participle of the deponent verb sequor. Here it functions adjectivally modifying temporis with a future or subsequent implication ('of the time that follows').
  4. §23.3.77.prperinde ac si — A conditional comparative conjunction phrase meaning 'just as if', taking the pluperfect subjunctive datum esset to express a legal fiction contrary to the actual course of events.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.3.77.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.3.77.pr

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