Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.3.82.pr

Payment of Daughter's Dowry and Release from Debt to Wife

Passage 3456 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text explains that if a wife orders her husband to pay his debt to her as a dowry for their daughter, his release from the debt depends on whether he makes the payment in his own name or in hers.

[PROCULUS libro quinto epistularum. ] §23.3.82.prCum uxor uirum suum quam pecuniam sibi deberet in dotem filiae communis dare iusserit et id fecisse dicatur, puto animaduertendum esse, utrum eam dotem suo an uxoris nomine dedit: si suo, nihilo minus uxori eum debere pecuniam: si uxoris nomine dederit, ipsum ab uxore liberatum esse.
[PROCULUS in the fifth book of Epistles.] When a wife has ordered her husband to give the money which he owed her as a dowry for their common daughter, and he is said to have done so, I think it should be observed whether he gave that dowry in his own name or in the name of his wife: if in his own, he nonetheless owes the money to his wife; if he gave it in the name of his wife, he himself is released from his obligation to his wife.

Notes

  1. §23.3.82.prquam pecuniam sibi deberet — The relative pronoun quam is used adjectivally with the noun pecuniam within the relative clause, meaning 'the money which he owed to her' (where sibi refers back to the subject of the main verb, uxor).
  2. §23.3.82.prutrum ... dedit — Although introducing an indirect question, the indicative perfect dedit is used instead of the subjunctive, which would be standard in classical prose.
  3. §23.3.82.prdebere / liberatum esse — Accusative with infinitive constructions governed by the main verb puto ('I think'), functioning as the apodoses for the conditional clauses si suo and si uxoris nomine dederit respectively.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.3.82.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.3.82.pr

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.