Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.48.pr

Imputation of Profits from Husband's Property to Dowry

Passage 7703 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Concerning a wife who possessed her husband's property to recover her dowry, Marcellus answers that the profits she obtained must be credited against her dowry, and if interest is to be calculated, payments must be applied first to the interest before the principal.

[MARCELLUS libro singulari responsorum. ] §46.3.48.prTitia cum propter dotem bona mariti possideret, omnia pro domina egit, reditus exegit et mouentia distraxit: quaero, an ea, quae ex re mariti percepit, in dotem ei reputari debeant.
[MARCELLUS in the single book of Responses.] When Titia, on account of her dowry, was in possession of her husband's property, she did everything as if she were the owner, collected the rents, and disposed of the movables. I ask whether those things which she received from her husband's property ought to be credited to her against her dowry.
Marcellus respondit reputationem eius quod proponeretur non iniquam uideri: pro soluto enim magis habendum est, quod ex ea causa mulier percepit.
Marcellus replied that the crediting of what was proposed did not seem inequitable; for what the woman received from that cause should rather be held as paid.
sed si forte usurarum quoque rationem arbiter dotis reciperandae habere debuerit, ita est computandum, ut, prout quidque ad mulierem peruenit, non ex uniuersa summa decedat, sed prius in eam quantitatem, quam usurarum nomine mulierem consequi oportebat: quod non est iniquum.
But if, by chance, the arbitrator for recovering the dowry also had to take account of interest, it must be calculated in such a way that, as each thing comes to the woman, it does not deduct from the entire sum, but is first applied to that amount which the woman ought to have obtained under the name of interest; which is not inequitable.

Notes

  1. §46.3.48.prpro soluto — Meaning "as paid" or "as a discharge of debt." It is an idiomatic phrase consisting of the preposition pro and the ablative neuter singular of solutus (perfect passive participle of solvere), indicating that the transaction is treated as a valid payment. Here, it signifies that the profits and proceeds from the sale of movables obtained by the wife from her husband's estate must be treated as a partial satisfaction of her claim for the return of her dowry.
  2. §46.3.48.prdotis reciperandae — A gerundive construction where the gerundive reciperandae agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun dotis, which functions as an objective genitive. The entire phrase translates to "of recovering the dowry" and modifies the preceding noun arbiter.
  3. §46.3.48.prprout quidque ad mulierem peruenit — A subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction prout ("as," "according as," "in proportion as"). It is nested within the main result clause (ita est computandum, ut ... decedat) to indicate the progressive, step-by-step process of attribution every time each item or benefit came into the woman's hands.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.48.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.48.pr

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