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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.8.26.pr

Loans in a Son's Name and Scope of the Peculium

Passage 5115 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Scaevola answers a query regarding a father who bequeathed pre-legacies and peculia to his sons, affirming that the principal and interest of loans made in a son's name and recorded as the father's liabilities are also owed under the bequest of the peculium.

[SCAEUOLA libro tertio responsorum. ] §33.8.26.pr'Titi fili, e medio praecipito sumito tibique habeto domum illam, item aureos centum': alio deinde capite peculia filiis praelegauit.
[From the third book of Scaevola's Opinions.] 'Titus, my son, take in advance from the estate, take, and have for yourself that house, and likewise a hundred gold pieces': then in another clause he bequeathed the peculia to his sons in advance.
quaesitum est, an peculio praelegato et centum aurei et usurae eorum debentur, cum rationibus breuiariis in aere alieno et sortem et usuras inter ceteros creditores complexus sit.
The question was asked whether, when the peculium was pre-bequeathed, both the hundred gold pieces and their interest are owed, since in his summary accounts he had included both the principal and the interest among the other creditors under liabilities.
respondit, si id faenus nomine filii exercuisset et usuras ita, ut proponeretur, filio adscripsisset, id quoque peculio legato deberi.
He replied that if he had conducted that lending business in the name of his son and had credited the interest to his son in the manner proposed, this also was owed under the bequest of the peculium.

Notes

  1. §33.8.26.pre medio — Meaning 'from the whole estate before partition.' This constitutes part of the standard formula for a pre-legacy (praelegatum), where a specific asset is taken out before the inheritance is divided among co-heirs.
  2. §33.8.26.prin aere alieno — Literally 'in someone else's money,' but a standard legal phrase in Roman law for 'debts' or 'liabilities.' Here it refers to the fact that the testator (the father) had recorded his obligation to pay the principal and interest to his son in his own account books, alongside other third-party creditors.
  3. §33.8.26.prpeculio legato — Depending on the passive verb `deberi` ('is owed'), this functions as a dative of reference (or ablative of cause/instrument) indicating the basis of the debt: 'owed under the bequest of the peculium' or 'owed to the bequeathed peculium.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.8.26.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.8.26.pr

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