[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo octauo ad edictum. ] §46.3.29.prCum Stichus et Pamphilus communi seruo promissi sunt, alteri Stichus, alteri Pamphilus solui non potest, sed dimidiae singulorum partes debentur.
[ULPIANUS in the thirty-eighth book on the Edict.] When Stichus and Pamphilus have been promised to a common slave, Stichus cannot be paid to one owner and Pamphilus to the other, but half-shares of each are owed.
idemque est, si quis aut duos Stichos aut duos Pamphilos dari promisit aut communi duorum seruo homines decem dare promisit: nam ambigua uox est decem homines, quemadmodum decem denarii: atque utriusque rei dimidium duobus modis intellegi potest.
And the same is true if someone has promised that either two Stichuses or two Pamphiluses be given, or has promised to give ten men to a slave held in common by two persons; for the expression "ten men" is ambiguous, just like "ten denarii", and the half of each thing can be understood in two ways.
sed in nummis et oleo ac frumento et similibus, quae communi specie continentur, apparet hoc actum, ut numero diuidatur obligatio, quatenus et commodius promissori stipulatoribusque est.
But in the case of money, oil, grain, and the like, which are contained in a common category, it appears that this was intended: that the obligation should be divided by number, insofar as this is more convenient both for the promisor and for the stipulators.