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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.2.4.pr

Maintenance of Indigent Sister and Tutor's Liability

Passage 3991 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a case where a testator appointed his son as heir and left his daughter only a small legacy with a tutor, Julianus answers that even if the tutor paid for the daughter's maintenance and education without a magistrate's decree, he is not liable in an action on guardianship to refund those expenses to the son, as she had no other means of support.

[IULIANUS libro uicesimo primo digestorum. ] §27.2.4.prQui filium heredem instituerat, filiae dotis nomine, cum in familia nupsisset, ducenta legauerat nec quicquam praeterea et tutorem eis Sempronium dedit: is a cognatis et a propinquis pupillae perductus ad magistratum iussus est alimenta pupillae et mercedes, ut liberalibus artibus institueretur, pupillae nomine praeceptoribus dare: pubes factus pupillus puberi iam factae sorori suae ducenta legati causa soluit.
[JULIANUS, from the twenty-first book of the Digests.] A man who had appointed his son as heir, had bequeathed to his daughter, by way of dowry when she should marry within the family, two hundred, and nothing besides, and gave Sempronius as tutor to them. This tutor, being brought before a magistrate by the blood-relations and relatives of the female ward, was ordered to give, in the name of the female ward, maintenance for her and the fees to the teachers so that she might be instructed in the liberal arts. The male ward, having reached puberty, paid to his sister, who had also now reached puberty, the two hundred on account of the legacy.
quaesitum est, an tutelae iudicio consequi possit, quod in alimenta pupillae et mercedes a tutore ex tutela praestitum sit.
The question was asked whether it could be recovered in an action on guardianship, what had been paid by the tutor out of the guardianship for the maintenance and the fees of the female ward.
respondi: existimo, etsi citra magistratuum decretum tutor sororem pupilli sui aluerit et liberalibus artibus instituerit, cum haec aliter ei contingere non possent, nihil eo nomine tutelae iudicio pupillo aut substitutis pupilli praestare debere.
I replied: I think that, even if the tutor, without a decree of the magistrates, maintained the sister of his ward and had her instructed in the liberal arts, since these things could not otherwise have fallen to her lot, he ought to pay nothing on that account in an action on guardianship to the ward or to the substitutes of the ward.

Notes

  1. §27.2.4.prcum in familia nupsisset — ‘when she should marry within the family’. A Roman legal expression referring to her marrying while remaining in her paternal family (i.e., without passing into the marital power of another family), or simply marrying while still a member of the household.
  2. §27.2.4.prducenta — ‘two hundred’. This is an elliptical form common in Roman legal texts, representing two hundred thousand sesterces (ducenta milia sestertium).
  3. §27.2.4.prconsequi possit, quod... — The subject of the infinitive `consequi` (to recover) is the `pupillus` (the son who has reached puberty) from the previous sentence. The question is whether the ward can recover in a guardianship action (tutelae iudicium) the expenses paid by the tutor out of the ward's estate for the sister's support and education.
  4. §27.2.4.prnihil eo nomine tutelae iudicio pupillo aut substitutis pupilli praestare debere — This is an accusative and infinitive construction where the subject accusative `tutorem` (the tutor) is omitted. `nihil praestare debere` means 'he (the tutor) has no obligation to refund or compensate anything' in the action on guardianship.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.2.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.2.4.pr

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