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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.22.pr-38.1.22.2

Accrual of Service Claims and Succession by Heirs

Passage 5907 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses when the claim for services under a stipulation arises, the transfer of this claim to the patron's children upon inheritance, and the requirement to leave time for the freedman's physical care.

[GAIUS libro quarto decimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §38.1.22.prCum patronus operas stipulatus sit, tunc scilicet committitur stipulatio, cum poposcerit nec libertus praestiterit.
[GAIUS, in the fourteenth book on the provincial edict.] When a patron has stipulated for services, the stipulation is, of course, committed at the moment when he has demanded them and the freedman has not performed them.
nec interest, adiecta sint haec uerba 'cum poposcero' an non sint adiecta: aliud enim est de operis, aliud de ceteris rebus.
And it makes no difference whether these words 'when I shall have demanded' are added or are not added; for it is one thing in the case of services, and another in the case of other things.
cum enim operarum editio nihil aliud sit quam officii praestatio, absurdum est credere alio die deberi officium, quam quo is uellet, cui praestandum est.
For since the performance of services is nothing other than the rendering of duty, it is absurd to believe that the duty is owed on any other day than that on which he, to whom it is to be rendered, wishes.
§38.1.22.1Cum libertus promiserit patrono operas se daturum neque adiecerit 'liberisque eius', constat liberis eius ita demum deberi, si patri heredes extiterint.
When a freedman has promised the patron that he will give services, and has not added 'and to his children,' it is established that they are owed to his children only if they have become heirs to their father.
heredes tamen extitisse liberos parenti ita demum prodesse ad operarum petitionem Iuliano placet, si non per alium heredes extiterunt.
However, it is Julian's opinion that the fact that children have become heirs to their parent benefits them for the purpose of demanding services only if they have not become heirs through another person.
itaque si quis exheredato emancipato filio seruum eius heredem instituerit et per eum seruum heres extiterit filius, repelli eum ab operarum petitione debere, perinde ac repelleretur patronus, qui operas non imposuisset uel quas imposuit reuendidisset.
Therefore, if anyone, having disinherited his emancipated son, has appointed his son's slave as heir, and through that slave the son has become heir, he must be repelled from demanding the services, just as a patron would be repelled who had not imposed services or had resold those which he had imposed.
§38.1.22.2In omnibus operis praecipue obseruandum est, ut temporis spatia, quae ad curam corporis necessaria sunt, liberto relinquantur.
In all services, it must be especially observed that intervals of time which are necessary for the care of the body are left to the freedman.

Notes

  1. §38.1.22.prcommittitur — The verb 'committere' is used here as a legal term meaning that the stipulation becomes actionable or the claim is triggered upon the non-performance of the condition.
  2. §38.1.22.pralio die deberi officium, quam quo is uellet — The comparative structure 'alio... quam...' means 'on a day other than [the day] on which'. 'quo' is a relative pronoun referring to the omitted or implied 'die' in the ablative of time. 'cui' is the dative of agent with 'praestandum est'.
  3. §38.1.22.1Iuliano placet — An impersonal expression meaning 'it pleases Julian' (i.e., Julian is of the opinion). The subject of 'placet' is the entire infinitive clause 'heredes tamen extitisse liberos parenti... prodesse' ('that the children's having become heirs to their parent benefits...').
  4. §38.1.22.1exheredato emancipato filio — Dative (or ablative absolute). It describes a situation where a testator appoints the slave (seruum eius) of his son (filio), who has been disinherited (exheredato) and emancipated (emancipato), as heir.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.22.pr-38.1.22.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.22.pr-38.1.22.2

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