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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.17.pr

Agreements on Returning Late Delivered Dowries

Passage 3476 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In response to a query from Atilicinus regarding the return period of a dowry given after marriage, Proculus replies that while an agreement can improve the wife's condition, it cannot make it worse, meaning that an agreement setting a longer return period than the legal standard is invalid.

[PROCULUS libro undecimo epistularum. ] §23.4.17.prAtilicinus Proculo suo salutem.
[PROCULUS from the eleventh book of Letters.] Atilicinus greets his friend Proculus.
Cum inter uirum et uxorem pactum conuentum ante nuptias factum sit, ut quibus diebus dos data esset, isdem diuortio facto redderetur, post quinquennium quam nuptiae factae sunt uxor uiro dotem dedit: diuortio facto quaero, utrum quinquennii die uir uxori dotem redderet an statuto legibus tempore.
When a pact had been made between husband and wife before marriage, to the effect that the dowry should be returned upon divorce in the same number of days within which it had been given, the wife gave the dowry to the husband five years after the marriage was contracted. Divorce having occurred, I ask whether the husband should return the dowry to the wife at the five-year term, or at the time established by the laws.
Proculus respondit: quod ad diem reddendae dotis attinet, pacto existimo meliorem condicionem mulieris fieri posse, deteriorem non posse: itaque si cautum est, ut propiore tempore, quam legibus constitutum est, reddatur, stari eo debere, si ut longiore, nec ualere id pactum conuentum.
Proculus replied: As far as the day for returning the dowry is concerned, I think that the condition of the woman can be made better by agreement, but cannot be made worse. Therefore, if it was provided that it be returned in a shorter time than is established by the laws, that provision must be stood by; if in a longer time, that pact is not valid.
cuius sententiae conueniens est dicere, si pacto conuento cautum est, ut quanto serius quaeque et post nuptias data fuerit, tanto post diuortium reddatur, si propiore, quam in reddenda dote constitutum est, data sit, ualere pactum conuentum, si longiore, non ualere.
Consistent with this opinion, it is correct to say that if it was provided by pact that the later after marriage each part of the dowry is given, the later after divorce it is to be returned, then if it was given within a shorter time than is established for returning the dowry, the pact is valid, but if in a longer time, it is not valid.

Notes

  1. 23.4.17.prstari eo debere — An impersonal passive construction using the passive infinitive 'stari' of the intransitive verb 'stare'. 'eo' is an ablative referring to 'the agreement' (pacto) or 'the provision' (cautum). 'stare' with the ablative means "to stand by" or "to abide by", meaning "that provision must be stood by".
  2. 23.4.17.prut quibus diebus dos data esset, isdem ... redderetur — A correlative construction using 'quibus... isdem'. The relative adjective 'quibus' precedes with its noun 'diebus', to which the demonstrative 'isdem' (with 'diebus' understood) in the main clause responds. Literally, "that in the same days within which the dowry had been given, it should be returned upon divorce".
  3. 23.4.17.prpost quinquennium quam — A split form of the conjunction 'postquam' ('post... quam'). It means "five years after...". The accusative 'quinquennium' expressing the interval of time is inserted after 'post'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.17.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.17.pr

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