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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §3.4.8.pr

Satisfaction from City Debtors When Undefended

Passage 569 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that if a city is not defended by its administrators and lacks possessable physical property, plaintiffs should obtain satisfaction through actions directed against the city's debtors.

[IAUOLENUS libro quinto decimo ex Cassio. ] §3.4.8.prCiuitates si per eos qui res earum administrant non defenduntur nec quicquam est corporale rei publicae quod possideatur, per actiones debitorum ciuitatis agentibus satisfieri oportet.
[JAVOLENUS, in the fifteenth book on Cassius.] If cities are not defended by those who administer their affairs, and there is not any corporeal property of the municipality that can be possessed, satisfaction must be made to the plaintiffs through actions against the debtors of the city.

Notes

  1. §3.4.8.prCiuitates si — The noun `Ciuitates` is the subject of the `si`-clause but is placed at the beginning of the sentence (before `si`) for topicalization (prolepsis).
  2. §3.4.8.prrei publicae — Used here as a synonym for `ciuitas` (the city), functioning as a genitive of possession modifying `quicquam corporale`, meaning "any corporeal property belonging to the public body."
  3. §3.4.8.practiones debitorum — `debitorum` is the genitive plural of `debitor`, functioning as an objective genitive in relation to `actiones`, meaning "actions against the debtors."
  4. §3.4.8.pragentibus — Dative plural of the present participle of `agere` (to bring an action), used substantively to mean "to the plaintiffs" (those bringing suit), functioning as the dative complement of the passive infinitive `satisfieri` under the impersonal `oportet`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §3.4.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:3.4.8.pr

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