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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.1.4.pr

Death of a Co-Patron and a Son's Claim for Services

Passage 5889 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that if one of the co-patrons dies, his son's claim for services is not barred even if the other survives, as claiming services has the same personal nature as claiming a loan.

[IDEM libro quarto ad Sabinum. ]
[THE SAME, in the fourth book on Sabinus.] A man manumitted by two persons had promised labor services to both.
§38.1.4.prA duobus manumissus utrique operas promiserat: altero ex his mortuo nihil est, quare non filio eius, quamuis superstite altero, operarum detur petitio.
When one of them dies, there is no reason why the claim for services should not be granted to his son, even though the other survives.
nec hoc quicquam commune habet cum hereditate aut bonorum possessione: perinde enim operae a libertis ac pecunia credita petitur.
Nor does this have anything in common with inheritance or the possession of goods: for services are claimed from freedmen in just the same way as a loaned sum of money is claimed.
haec ita Aristo scripsit, cuius sententiam puto ueram: nam etiam praeteritarum operarum actionem dari heredi extraneo sine metu exceptionis placet.
Aristo wrote to this effect, and I think his opinion is correct; for it is settled that an action for past services is granted to an outside heir without fear of an exception.
dabitur igitur et uiuo altero patrono.
Therefore, it will be granted even while the other patron is still alive.

Notes

  1. §38.1.4.praltero ex his mortuo — Ablative absolute construction, where "altero" (one of the two) is the logical subject and "mortuo" (the participle) is the predicate.
  2. §38.1.4.properae ... petitur — The verb "petitur" is singular despite the plural nominative subject "operae". This is either an attraction to the following singular subject "pecunia credita", or "operae" is a genitive singular modifying an implied "petitio". In either case, the sense is that the claim for services is treated in the same manner as a claim for a loaned debt.
  3. §38.1.4.pruiuo altero patrono — An ablative absolute consisting of the adjective "uiuo" and the noun "patrono" (modified by "altero"), expressing an attendant circumstance or a concession ("while the other patron is still alive" or "even though the other patron survives").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.1.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.1.4.pr

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