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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.12.11.pr

Liability of Heirs When a Promisor Dies Before Office

Passage 8793 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

If a person who promised money in view of an office or priesthood dies before taking office, his heirs are generally not liable, unless the promised work had already begun during his lifetime.

[IDEM libro nono pandectarum. ] §50.12.11.prSi quis ob honorem uel sacerdotium pecuniam promiserit et antequam honorem uel magistratum ineat, decedet, non oportere heredes eius conueniri in pecuniam, quam is ob honorem uel magistratum promiserat, principalibus constitutionibus cauetur, nisi forte ab eo uel ab ipsa re publica eo uiuo opus fuerit inchoatum.
[THE SAME, in the ninth book of the Pandects.] If anyone has promised money for the sake of an office or a priesthood, and dies before entering upon the office or magistracy, it is provided by imperial constitutions that his heirs ought not to be sued for the money which he had promised for the sake of the office or magistracy, unless perchance, while he was still alive, the work had been commenced by him or by the municipality itself.

Notes

  1. §50.12.11.prnon oportere heredes eius conueniri — The accusative with infinitive clause 'heredes eius conueniri' (that his heirs be sued) serves as the subject of the impersonal verb 'oportere'. The verb 'conueniri' is the present passive infinitive of 'conuenire', which here means to bring an action against someone or to demand payment legally.
  2. §50.12.11.preo uiuo — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the pronoun 'eo' and the adjective 'uiuo' (from 'uiuus'), meaning 'while he was still alive' or 'during his lifetime'.
  3. §50.12.11.prdecedet — Although the manuscript tradition transmits the future indicative 'decedet', it is coordinated with 'ineat' (present subjunctive) within the conditional 'si' clause, and should be understood semantically as expressing a hypothetical condition (possibly a confusion for 'decedat' or 'decesserit').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.12.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.12.11.pr

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