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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.7.pr

Pacts on a Daughter's Dowry and Effects of Father and Daughter's Agreements

Passage 3466 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text regulates agreements concerning dowries given for a daughter, distinguishing the necessary parties before and after the dowry is given, and detailing the legal effects and limits of unilateral agreements made by the father or the daughter on each other.

[POMPONIUS libro quinto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §23.4.7.prCum dos filiae nomine datur, optimum est pactum conuentum cum utroque generum facere, quamquam initio dotis dandae legem quam uelit etiam citra personam mulieris is qui dat dicere possit.
[POMPONIUS from the fifteenth book on Sabinus.] When a dowry is given in the name of a daughter, it is best to make an agreement with both [the husband and the daughter], although at the beginning of giving the dowry, the donor can state whatever condition he wishes even without the intervention of the woman.
si uero post datam pacisci uelit, utriusque persona in paciscendo necessaria est, quoniam iam adquisita mulieri dos tum esset.
But if he wishes to make an agreement after it has been given, the intervention of both is necessary in making the agreement, because the dowry would then have already been acquired by the woman.
quo casu si solus pater pactus esset sine filia, siue solus agat siue adiuncta filiae persona, ei soli nocebit et proderit pactum conuentum nec, si sola filia aget, neque proderit neque nocebit ei.
In this case, if the father alone had made an agreement without the daughter, whether he sues alone or with the daughter's intervention added, the agreement will disadvantage and advantage him alone, and if the daughter sues alone, it will neither advantage nor disadvantage her.
si uero filia sola pacta fuerit, quo pacto melior condicio patris fiet, proderit et patri, quoniam per filiam patri adquiri potest, per patrem filiae non potest.
But if the daughter alone made an agreement by which the condition of the father becomes better, it will also advantage the father, since acquisition can be made for a father through a daughter, but cannot be made for a daughter through a father.
si uero sic pacta sit filia, ut noceat, ipsi quandoque filiae agenti nocebit pactum, patri uero nullo modo nocebit, nisi adiecta quoque filiae persona experiatur.
But if the daughter has made an agreement in such a way as to cause disadvantage, the agreement will disadvantage the daughter herself whenever she sues, but it will in no way disadvantage the father, unless he also sues with the daughter's intervention added.
dicendum est paciscendo filiam patris condicionem deteriorem facere non posse eo casu, quo mortua ea in matrimonio dos ad patrem reuersura est.
It must be said that the daughter cannot make the father's condition worse by making an agreement in that case where the dowry is to return to the father if she dies during the marriage.

Notes

  1. §23.4.7.prcum utroque generum — Although generum is the genitive plural of gener (son-in-law), cum utroque ('with both') is understood here as referring to both the son-in-law (husband) and the daughter. This may represent a textual corruption or confusion with other case forms, but legally it refers to making an agreement with both parties involved in the dowry.
  2. §23.4.7.prper filiam patri adquiri potest, per patrem filiae non potest — This refers to a fundamental principle of Roman private law regarding acquisition under paternal power (patria potestas); a person under power (the daughter) can acquire rights for the paterfamilias (the father), but the paterfamilias cannot directly acquire rights for a person in power.
  3. §23.4.7.prnullo modo nocebit, nisi adiecta quoque filiae persona experiatur — experiatur is the 3rd person singular present subjunctive of the deponent verb experior (to sue, bring an action), with pater as its subject. adiecta... persona is an ablative absolute. An unfavorable agreement made by the daughter alone does not harm the father, unless he brings an action by joining the persona of the daughter, in which case the defense based on the agreement will apply against him.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.7.pr

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