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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.6.8.pr

Legatee's Default and Risk of Pouring Out Wine

Passage 5049 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses the risk incurred by an heir who pours out bequeathed wine when the legatee is in default of acceptance, and the legal rule that bars the legatee's claim through the plea of fraud if they do not compensate for the loss caused by their delay.

[POMPONIUS libro sexto epistularum. ] §33.6.8.prSi heres damnatus sit dare uinum, quod in doliis esset, et per legatarium stetit, quo minus accipiat, periculose heredem facturum, si id uinum effundet: sed legatarium petentem uinum ab herede doli mali exceptione placuit summoueri, si non praestet id, quod propter moram eius damnum passus sit heres.
[POMPONIUS from the sixth book of his Epistles.] If an heir has been ordered to give wine which was in jars, and it was due to the legatee that he did not receive it, the heir would act at his own risk if he were to pour out that wine; but it has been held that the legatee, when claiming the wine from the heir, can be barred by the plea of fraud (exceptio doli mali), if he does not make good the loss which the heir has suffered on account of his delay.

Notes

  1. §33.6.8.prper legatarium stetit, quo minus — The construction of stare per aliquem followed by a quo minus clause is an idiomatic expression meaning "it is due to someone that ... not" or "it is someone's fault that ... not". Here it indicates that the default of acceptance (mora accipiendi) lies with the legatee.
  2. §33.6.8.prpericulose heredem facturum — An accusative with infinitive construction consisting of the subject heredem and the future active participle facturum (with esse omitted). This statement contextually expresses the jurist's opinion ("it is thought that the heir will act...") or is loosely connected to the subsequent placuit.
  3. §33.6.8.prdoli mali exceptione placuit summoueri — placuit is an impersonal expression meaning "it has been decided/held," which takes the accusative with infinitive clause legatarium... summoueri (that the legatee be barred) as its subject. doli mali exceptione is an ablative of means meaning "by the plea of fraud."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.6.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.6.8.pr

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