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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.140.pr-45.1.140.2

Divisibility of Stipulations and Effects of Servitude Agreements

Passage 7488 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains that a single stipulation for multiple items or installment payments can be resolved into multiple stipulations, and that a contract for a servitude on a common estate may not be extinguished even if circumstances change after its creation.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad Neratium. ] §45.1.140.prPluribus rebus praepositis, ita stipulatio facta est: 'ea omnia, quae supra scripta sunt, dari?' propius est, ut tot stipulationes, quot res sint.
[PAULUS in his third book on Neratius.] Where several things are specified, a stipulation is made as follows: "Are all those things which are written above to be given?" It is more appropriate to hold that there are as many stipulations as there are things.
§45.1.140.1De hac stipulatione: 'annua bima trima die id argentum quaque die dari?' apud ueteres uarium fuit.
Concerning this stipulation: "Is that money to be given at the end of one, two, and three years, on each of those days?" there was a difference of opinion among the ancient jurists.
PAULUS: sed uerius et hic tres esse trium summarum stipulationes.
PAULUS: But it is more correct to say that here also there are three stipulations for three distinct sums.
§45.1.140.2Etsi placeat extingui obligationem, si in eum casum inciderit, a quo incipere non potest, non tamen hoc in omnibus uerum est.
Although it is accepted that an obligation is extinguished if it falls into a situation from which it cannot begin, this is nevertheless not true in all cases.
ecce stipulari uiam iter actum ad fundum communem socius non potest, et tamen si is, qui stipulatus fuerat, duos heredes reliquerit, non extinguitur stipulatio.
For instance, a co-owner cannot stipulate for a right of way, a footway, or a carriage way to a common estate; and yet, if he who made the stipulation has left two heirs, the stipulation is not extinguished.
et per partem dominorum seruitus adquiri non potest, adquisita tamen conseruatur et per partem domini: hoc euenit, si pars praedii seruientis uel cui seruitur alterius domini esse coeperit.
Furthermore, a servitude cannot be acquired through a portion of the owners, but once acquired, it is preserved even through a portion of the owner; this happens if a part of either the serving estate or the dominant estate begins to belong to another owner.

Notes

  1. 45.1.140.prpropius est, ut — The conjunction "ut" introduces a noun clause functioning as the subject of "propius est" (it is more appropriate / closer to the truth). Within the "ut" clause, a verb like "sint" or "esse" is understood after "tot stipulationes".
  2. 45.1.140.2uiam iter actum — Nouns representing rustic servitudes in Roman law (right of way, footway, and carriage way), coordinated as direct objects (accusative) of the infinitive "stipulari".
  3. 45.1.140.2cui seruitur — A relative clause consisting of the dative "cui" and the passive "seruitur", modifying the preceding "praedii". It designates "the estate which is served", i.e., the dominant tenement.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.140.pr-45.1.140.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.140.pr-45.1.140.2

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