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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.21.pr

Converting a Monetary Dowry into Slaves and Risk Allocation

Passage 3480 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The jurist discusses the validity of an agreement where a woman, having promised a sum of money as dowry, delivers slaves instead under the condition that she bears their risk and owns their offspring, establishing that a dowry of money can be converted into specific objects for the woman's benefit.

[IULIANUS libro septimo decimo digestorum. ] §23.4.21.prSi mulier dotis causa promiserit certam summam et pro ea mancipia in dotem dederit ea condicione, ut periculo eius essent et si quid ex his natum esset ad eam pertineat, stari pacto conuento oportebit: nam constat posse inter uxorem et uirum conueniri, ut dos, quae in pecunia numerata esset, permutaretur et transferatur in corpora, cum mulieri prodest.
[JULIANUS, from the seventeenth book of the Digests.] If a woman, for the purpose of a dowry, has promised a certain sum, and in place of it has given slaves as a dowry on the condition that the risk regarding them should be hers, and if any offspring should be born from them it should belong to her, the agreed pact must be adhered to; for it is established that it can be agreed between wife and husband that a dowry, which consisted of ready money, may be altered and transferred into specific objects, when it is to the advantage of the woman.

Notes

  1. §23.4.21.prstari — The present passive infinitive of the intransitive verb stare (to stand by, adhere to), used impersonally. It governs the dative pacto conuento, meaning 'that the agreed pact be adhered to', and serves as the subject or complement of the impersonal verb oportebit.
  2. §23.4.21.prpericulo eius essent — The word periculo is an ablative of description or predicate ablative, and eius refers to the mulier (woman). It means that the risk (periculum) of loss or deterioration of the slaves should remain with the woman.
  3. §23.4.21.prcorpora — The accusative plural of corpus (body, physical object). In legal contrast to ready money (pecunia numerata), it is used to refer to specific physical objects or tangible property.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.21.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.21.pr

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