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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.73.pr-45.1.73.2

Tacit Delay from Nature of Obligation and Purging of Mora

Passage 7420 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses cases where a delay is tacitly allowed by the nature of the performance, the services of a freedman, the validity of stipulations made by a slave of an unaccepted inheritance, and the purging of a delay by a subsequent offer of performance.

[PAULUS libro uicensimo quarto ad edictum. ] §45.1.73.prInterdum pura stipulatio ex re ipsa dilationem capit, ueluti si id quod in utero sit aut fructus futuros aut domum aedificari stipulatus sit: tunc enim incipit actio, cum ea per rerum naturam praestari potest.
[PAULUS, On the Edict, Book 24] Sometimes an unconditional stipulation, by the very nature of the matter, admits of a delay, as, for instance, if one has stipulated for that which is in the womb, or future fruits, or that a house be built; for then the action begins when they can be performed in the nature of things.
sic qui Carthagini dari stipulatur, cum Romae sit, tacite tempus complecti uidetur, quo perueniri Carthaginem potest.
Thus, one who stipulates for something to be given at Carthage, while he is at Rome, is deemed to tacitly include the time in which it is possible to arrive at Carthage.
item si operas a liberto quis stipulatus sit, non ante dies earum cedit, quam indictae fuerint nec sint praestitae.
Likewise, if someone has stipulated for services from a freedman, the day for them does not begin to run until they have been designated and have not been performed.
§45.1.73.1Si seruus hereditarius stipulatus sit, nullam uim habitura est stipulatio, nisi adita hereditas sit, quasi condicionem habeat.
If a slave belonging to an inheritance has made a stipulation, the stipulation will have no force unless the inheritance is accepted, just as if it contained a condition.
idem est et in seruo eius qui apud hostes est.
The same is true in the case of a slave of one who is in the hands of the enemy.
§45.1.73.2Stichi promissor post moram offerendo purgat moram: certe enim doli mali exceptio nocebit ei, qui pecuniam oblatam accipere noluit.
The promisor of Stichus, by making an offer after delay, purges his delay; for certainly the exception of fraud will prejudice him who refused to accept the money when offered.

Notes

  1. 45.1.73.prcum ea per rerum naturam praestari potest — ea is a neuter plural nominative pronoun. It collectively refers to the preceding various objects of stipulation which have different genders and numbers, namely id quod in utero sit (neuter singular), frugus futuros (masculine plural), and domum aedificari (infinitive clause). Although some interpret ea as a feminine singular nominative referring to actio, it is legally unnatural for actio (action/lawsuit) to be the subject of the passive infinitive praestari (to be performed/rendered). Thus, it is proper to understand it as neuter plural referring to the objects of the stipulation.
  2. 45.1.73.prnon ante dies earum cedit — earum is a feminine plural genitive pronoun referring to the preceding operas (services, feminine plural). dies cedit is a Roman legal technical term meaning 'the day begins to run' or 'the right accrues.'
  3. 45.1.73.1quasi condicionem habeat — quasi is used with the subjunctive (habeat) to express a figurative or fictive condition, meaning 'as if it contained.'
  4. 45.1.73.2Stichi promissor — Stichi is the genitive form of the proper name Stichus, which is commonly used in Roman legal writing as a representative example of a slave (the object of performance).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.73.pr-45.1.73.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.73.pr-45.1.73.2

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