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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.3.pr-38.1.3.1

Timing of Demands and Indivisibility of Daily Services

Passage 5888 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius explains that labor services for a specific day cannot be demanded before the day has ended, and that services cannot be partially performed by hours because they constitute a full day's duty.

[POMPONIUS libro sexto ad Sabinum. ] §38.1.3.prOperas stipulatus ante peractum diem operam eius diei petere non potest.
[POMPONIUS libro sexto ad Sabinum.] A person who has stipulated for labor services cannot demand the service of a given day before that day is over.
§38.1.3.1Nec pars operae per horas solui potest, quia id est officii diurni.
Nor can a part of a service be performed by hours, because it is a matter of a full day's duty.
itaque nec ei liberto, qui sex horis dumtaxat antemeridianis praesto fuisset, liberatio eius diei contingit.
Therefore, liberation from that day's duty does not accrue even to that freedman who has made himself available for only six morning hours.

Notes

  1. §38.1.3.prOperas stipulatus — stipulatus is the perfect participle of the deponent verb stipulor, used here in an active sense ('having stipulated for [labor services]'). The implied subject is the patron (creditor).
  2. §38.1.3.1officii diurni — officii diurni is a genitive of quality or possession ('is of a daily duty'). The subject id refers to the service (opera), indicating that it is indivisible and must be performed on a full-day basis.
  3. §38.1.3.1qui sex horis dumtaxat antemeridianis praesto fuisset — praesto fuisset is the pluperfect subjunctive of praesto esse ('to be present, to attend upon'). It is used in a subjunctive of characteristic (coniunctivus characteristicus) to describe a type of freedman ('one who has merely made himself available...').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.3.pr-38.1.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.3.pr-38.1.3.1

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