[IDEM libro quinquagensimo tertio digestorum. ] §46.1.16.prFideiussor obligari non potest ei, apud quem reus promittendi obligatus non est.
[THE SAME in the fifty-third book of the digests.] A surety cannot be obligated to one to whom the principal debtor (the promisor) is not obligated.
quare si seruus communis Titii et Sempronii nominatim Titio dari stipulatus fuerit et fideiussorem ita interrogauerit: 'Titio aut Sempronio id dare spondes?', Titius quidem petere a fideiussore poterit, Sempronii uero persona in hoc solum interposita uidebitur, ut solui ei ante litem contestatam et ignorante uel inuito Titio possit.
Therefore, if a slave owned in common by Titius and Sempronius has stipulated that a thing be given specifically to Titius, and has questioned the surety as follows: "Do you promise to give it to Titius or Sempronius?", Titius indeed will be able to sue the surety, but the person of Sempronius will seem to have been interposed for this purpose only, so that payment can be made to him before the joinder of issue (litis contestatio) even if Titius is ignorant or unwilling.
§46.1.16.1Qui certo loco dari promisit, aliquatenus duriori condicioni obligatur, quam si pure interrogatus fuisset: nullo enim loco alio, quam in quem promisit, soluere inuito stipulatore potest.
One who has promised that a thing be given in a certain place is obligated under a somewhat harder condition than if he had been questioned unconditionally (pure): for in no other place than that in which he promised can he pay against the will of the stipulator.
quare si reum pure interrogauero et fideiussorem cum adiectione loci accepero, non obligabitur fideiussor.
Therefore, if I question the principal debtor unconditionally and accept the surety with the addition of a place, the surety will not be obligated.
§46.1.16.2Sed et si reus, Romae constitutus, Capuae dari promiserit, fideiussor Ephesi, perinde non obligabitur fideiussor, ac si reus sub condicione promisisset, fideiussor autem in diem certam uel pure promisisset.
Moreover, even if the principal debtor, being in Rome, has promised that a thing be given at Capua, and the surety at Ephesus, the surety will not be obligated, just as if the debtor had promised under a condition, but the surety for a certain day or unconditionally.
§46.1.16.3Fideiussor accipi potest, quotiens est aliqua obligatio ciuilis uel naturalis, cui applicetur.
A surety can be accepted whenever there is some civil or natural obligation to which he may be attached.
§46.1.16.4Naturales obligationes non eo solo aestimantur, si actio aliqua eorum nomine competit, uerum etiam cum soluta pecunia repeti non potest: nam licet minus proprie debere dicantur naturales debitores, per abusionem intellegi possunt debitores et, qui ab his pecuniam recipiunt, debitum sibi recepisse.
Natural obligations are not estimated solely by whether some action lies in their name, but also when money, once paid, cannot be recovered: for although natural debtors are said to "owe" less properly, by catachresis (abusionem) they can be understood as debtors, and those who receive money from them can be understood to have received what was owed to them.
§46.1.16.5Stipulatione in diem concepta fideiussor si sub condicione acceptus fuerit, ius eius in pendenti erit, ut, si ante diem condicio impleta fuerit, non obligetur, si concurreret dies et condicio uel etiam diem condicio secuta fuerit, obligetur.
In a stipulation framed for a certain day, if the surety has been accepted under a condition, his right will be in suspense, so that, if the condition is fulfilled before the day, he is not obligated; but if the day and the condition coincide, or if the condition follows after the day, he is obligated.
§46.1.16.6Cum fideiussor hoc modo acceptus esset: 'si reus quadraginta, quae ei credidi, non soluerit, fide tua esse iubes?', uerisimile est id actum, ut, cum appellatus reus non soluisset, fideiussor teneretur.
When a surety has been accepted in this manner: "If the debtor does not pay the forty which I credited to him, do you authorize it to be on your security?", it is probable that this was intended: that when the debtor, having been called upon, did not pay, the surety should be held liable.
sed et si reus, antequam appellaretur, decessisset, fideiussor obligatus erit, quia hoc quoque casu uerum est reum non soluisse.
But even if the debtor had died before he was called upon, the surety will be obligated, because in this case also it is true that the debtor has not paid.