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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.102.pr-46.3.102.3

Loss from Coin Demonetization and Allocation of Payments

Passage 7758 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Scaevola answers questions regarding the loss of money due to currency abolition during a creditor's delay, the allocation of payments when interest is disputed, the crediting of received payments to the oldest outstanding debts, and the application of mistakenly overpaid interest to reduce the principal.

[SCAEUOLA libro quinto responsorum. ] §46.3.102.prCreditor oblatam a debitore pecuniam ut alia die accepturus distulit: mox pecunia, qua illa res publica utebatur, quasi aerosa iussu praesidis sublata est: item pupillaris pecunia, ut possit idoneis nominibus credi seruata, ita interempta est: quaesitum est, cuius detrimentum esset.
[SCAEUOLA, in the fifth book of Opinions.] A creditor postponed receiving money offered by a debtor, intending to accept it on another day; soon after, the currency which that municipality used was, by order of the governor, abolished on the ground of being debased. Likewise, the money of a ward, which had been kept so that it could be lent out under suitable names, was destroyed in the same manner. It was asked on whom the loss should fall.
respondi secundum ea quae proponerentur nec creditoris nec tutoris detrimentum esse.
I answered that, according to the facts presented, the loss fell neither on the creditor nor on the tutor.
§46.3.102.1Cum de sorte debita constaret, de usura litigatum esset, nouissime ex appellatione pronuntiatum est solutas quidem usuras non repeti, in futurum uero non deberi: quaero, pecunia data utrum usuris cedere deberet, quod petitor defenderet, an uero sorti proficeret.
While the principal debt was certain, there was litigation concerning the interest, and finally, on appeal, it was pronounced that interest already paid should not be recovered, but that for the future it was not owed. I ask whether the money paid should be credited to the interest, as the claimant argued, or rather should benefit the principal.
respondi, si qui dabat, in sortem se dare dixisset, usuris non debere proficere.
I answered that if the person who paid had stated that he was paying toward the principal, it should not benefit the interest.
§46.3.102.2Valerius Lucii Titii seruus scripsit: 'accepi a Mario Marino ex summa maiore tot aureos': quaero, an haec summa in proximum annum ei accepto ferri debeat, cum superioris anni sit reliquator.
Valerius, the slave of Lucius Titius, wrote: "I have received from Marius Marinus so many aurei out of a larger sum." I ask whether this sum ought to be credited to him for the following year, since he is in arrears for the preceding year.
respondi uideri in primam quamque summam liberationem proficere.
I answered that it seems to benefit the release of each of the earliest sums.
§46.3.102.3Titius mutuam pecuniam accepit et quincunces usuras spopondit easque paucis annis soluit: postea nullo pacto interueniente per errorem et ignorantiam semisses usuras soluit: quaero, an patefacto errore id, quod amplius usurarum nomine solutum esset quam in stipulatum deductum, sortem minueret.
Titius received a loan of money and promised interest at five-twelfths, and paid it for a few years; afterwards, without any agreement intervening, through mistake and ignorance, he paid interest at one-half. I ask whether, once the mistake is revealed, that which was paid under the name of interest in excess of what was brought into the stipulation would reduce the principal.
respondit, si errore plus in usuris soluisset quam deberet, habendam rationem in sortem eius quod amplius solutum est.
He answered that if he had paid more in interest by mistake than he owed, account must be taken toward the principal of that which was paid in excess.

Notes

  1. 46.3.102.prut alia die accepturus — The conjunction `ut` combined with the future active participle `accepturus` expresses the creditor's intention or purpose ("intending to accept on another day").
  2. 46.3.102.prpupillaris pecunia, ut possit idoneis nominibus credi seruata — Contains a purpose clause `ut possit... credi` depending on the participle `seruata` (modifying `pupillaris pecunia`). The phrase `idoneis nominibus` (to suitable names) refers to reliable debtors or safe investment targets on the ledger.
  3. 46.3.102.1quod petitor defenderet — An inserted relative clause within the indirect question introduced by `quaero`. `quod` refers to the preceding proposition ("that the paid money should be credited to the interest"), and `defenderet` is in the subjunctive imperfect to reflect the asserted claim in indirect speech.
  4. 46.3.102.2in primam quamque summam — The expression `quisque` combined with the ordinal `primus` (here feminine accusative `primam quamque`, literally "each first sum") indicates that when multiple debts exist, payments are credited to release the earliest outstanding sums first.
  5. 46.3.102.3habendam rationem in sortem — An accusative-with-infinitive construction featuring the passive periphrastic (gerundive) `habendam [esse] rationem`. The idiom `rationem habere in + accusative` means "to take into account for / to credit toward (the principal)."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.102.pr-46.3.102.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.102.pr-46.3.102.3

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