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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.3.35.pr

Claim against Master When Slave Holds Action for Price

Passage 1033 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Citing Julian, it is stated that even if a slave has not yet received the price of the sold inheritance items, a petition for inheritance can be brought against the master if the master holds an action to recover that money.

[GAIUS libro sexto ad edictum prouinciale. ] §5.3.35.prIdem Iulianus ait etiam si nondum pretia rerum consecutus sit seruus, posse a domino quasi a iuris possessore hereditatem peti, quia habet actionem, qua eam pecuniam consequatur, quae quidem actio etiam ignoranti adquireretur.
[GAIUS in his sixth book on the Provincial Edict.] The same Julian says that even if the slave has not yet obtained the price of the things, the inheritance can be claimed from the master as if from a possessor of a right, because the master has an action by which he may secure that money, which action indeed would be acquired even for one who is ignorant of it.

Notes

  1. §5.3.35.pretiam ignoranti adquireretur — The word 'ignoranti' is the dative singular of the present participle 'ignorans', meaning 'one who is ignorant (of the fact)'. It refers to the legal principle that an action arising from a slave's transaction is automatically acquired (adquirere) for the master, even if the master is unaware of it. The subjunctive imperfect 'adquireretur' is used either because it is in a subordinate clause within indirect speech (Iulianus ait... quia...) where 'ait' is treated as a historical present, or because it carries a potential nuance ('would be acquired' under such circumstances).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.3.35.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.3.35.pr

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