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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.14.pr

Stipulation to Build and Time Required for Performance

Passage 7360 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Celsus' opinion that in an obligation to build, an action cannot be brought until the time necessary for construction has elapsed, and sureties provided before that time are not bound.

[POMPONIUS libro quinto ad Sabinum. ] §45.1.14.prSi ita stipulatus essem abs te 'domum aedificari?' uel heredem meum damnauero insulam aedificare, Celso placet non ante agi posse ex ea causa, quam tempus praeterisset, quo insula aedificari posset: nec fideiussores dati ante diem tenebuntur:
[POMPONIUS, in the fifth book on Sabinus.] If I had stipulated from you thus, 'that a house be built?', or if I should charge my heir to build an insula, Celsus is of the opinion that an action cannot be brought on that ground before the time has elapsed within which the insula could have been built; nor will sureties given be bound before that day.

Notes

  1. §45.1.14.prdomum aedificari — An accusative with infinitive construction expressing the content of the stipulation, where the accusative domum functions as the subject of the passive infinitive aedificari.
  2. §45.1.14.prdamnauero — The verb damnare is a technical term used in wills to impose an obligation on the heir (legatum per damnationem), here taking the infinitive aedificare as its complement.
  3. §45.1.14.prnon ante agi posse ex ea causa, quam — A correlative construction of non ante... quam... (not before... than..., i.e., only after...). In the infinitive clause functioning as the complement of Celso placet, the passive infinitive agi is used impersonally to mean 'an action to be brought'.
  4. §45.1.14.prquo insula aedificari posset — The relative pronoun quo is in the ablative case, referring back to the antecedent tempus, indicating the period within which the construction could be completed. The subjunctive posset denotes potentiality.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.14.pr

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