Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.7.54.pr

Interest Rate on Legitimate Loans to a Guardian

Passage 3889 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Tryphoninus argues that a guardian who borrowed the ward's money from co-guardians through proper procedures should not be charged the highest rate of interest, distinguishing between an open, legitimate loan and a private, self-serving diversion of funds.

[TRYPHONINUS libro secundo disputationum. ] §26.7.54.prNon existimo maximis usuris subiciendum eum, qui a contutoribus suis mutuam pecuniam pupilli accepit et cauit certasque usuras promisit, quas et alii debitores pupillo dependunt, quia hic sibi non consumpsit nec clam nec quasi sua pecunia licenter abutitur et, nisi his usuris a contutore mutuum ei daretur, aliunde accepisset: et multum refert, palam aperteque debitorem se ut extraneum et quemlibet faceret pupillo an sub administratione tutelae pupillique utilitate latente sua commoda pupilli pecunia iuuaret.
I do not think that a person who accepted a loan of the ward's money from his co-guardians, gave security, and promised a certain rate of interest, which other debtors also pay to the ward, should be subjected to the highest rate of interest, because this person did not consume it for his own purposes, nor did he secretly or as if it were his own money license himself to abuse it, and, if a loan had not been given to him by the co-guardian at this rate of interest, he would have obtained it from elsewhere. And there is a great difference whether he made himself a debtor to the ward publicly and openly as a stranger and any ordinary person, or under the cover of the administration of the guardianship, while the ward's interest was neglected, promoted his own advantages with the ward's money.

Notes

  1. §26.7.54.prmaximis usuris subiciendum eum — An accusative and infinitive construction with a gerundive, where `esse` is omitted. It forms the object clause of `non existimo`, with `eum` as its subject accusative and `subiciendum [esse]` as the predicate. `maximis usuris` is an ablative governed by `subicere` (here meaning 'to be subjected to').
  2. §26.7.54.prnisi his usuris a contutore mutuum ei daretur, aliunde accepisset — A mixed unreal conditional sentence. The protasis (`nisi... daretur`) is in the subjunctive imperfect, referring to a present or continuous past state (if it were not being given), whereas the apodosis (`accepisset`) is in the subjunctive pluperfect, referring to a completed action in the past (he would have obtained).
  3. §26.7.54.prpupillique utilitate latente — An ablative absolute consisting of the noun `utilitate` and the participle `latente`. Literally 'with the ward's interest being hidden', but in this context it means 'while the ward's interest was neglected or set aside', showing that the guardian prioritized his own advantage.
  4. §26.7.54.prmultum refert, ... an ... — The impersonal verb `refert` ('it matters', 'there is a difference') takes a double indirect question introduced by `[utrum] ... an ...` (with `utrum` omitted) as its subject. The subjunctive verbs `faceret` and `iuuaret` are in the imperfect subjunctive due to the sequence of tenses after the present-tense main verb `refert`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.7.54.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.7.54.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.