Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.7.40.pr

Curator Appointed by a Soldier and Limits of Privilege

Passage 3875 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses a case where a centurion appointed a curator for his impuber son, examining the curator's liability in the absence of a praetor's decree and the limits of military privilege, which does not apply to guardianship based on paternal power.

[IDEM libro sexto responsorum. ] §26.7.40.prImpuberi filio centurio curatorem dedit.
[THE SAME, in his Sixth Book of Opinions.] A centurion appointed a curator for his impuber son.
decreto praetoris non secuto si nihil curator datus administret, periculo contumaciae uel neglegentiae non adstringetur: nam priuilegium militum ad alienam iniuriam porrigi non oportet nec in aliis circa supremam uoluntatem imperitiae uenia datur quam in bonis militum, filii uero tutela iure patriae potestatis, non militiae praemio mandatur.
If a decree of the praetor did not follow, and the appointed curator manages nothing, he will not be bound by the risk of contumacy or negligence; for the privilege of soldiers ought not to be extended to the injury of another, nor is excuse for lack of skill concerning a last will granted in matters other than the property of soldiers, and indeed the guardianship of a son is mandated by the law of paternal power, not as a reward for military service.

Notes

  1. §26.7.40.prdecreto praetoris non secuto — An ablative absolute construction, expressing the conditional clause "if a decree of the praetor did not follow."
  2. §26.7.40.prnec in aliis... quam in bonis militum — The correlation of nec... aliis... quam expresses a limitation through comparison, meaning "not in other matters than..." or "only in...". Here, it indicates that indulgence for lack of skill concerning last wills is granted only in matters relating to the property of soldiers.
  3. §26.7.40.primperitiae uenia — It is most natural to construe imperitiae as an objective genitive modifying uenia, meaning "excuse or indulgence for inexperience/lack of skill."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.7.40.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.7.40.pr

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