Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.240.pr

Scope of Dowry Restitution Upon Dissolution of Marriage

Passage 9054 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A legal case concerning whether a clause on returning the dowry upon dissolution of marriage applies to death as well as divorce, where the Emperor ruled in favor of including death so that the husband would not keep the dowry.

[PAULUS ex libris sex libro primo imperialium sententiarum in cognitionibus prolatarum. ] §50.16.240.prCum quaerebatur, an uerbum 'soluto matrimonio dotem reddi' non tantum diuortium, sed et mortem contineret, hoc est an de hoc quoque casu contrahentes sentirent, et multi putabant hoc sensisse, et quibusdam aliis contra uidebatur: secundum: hoc motus imperator pronuntiauit id actum eo pacto, ut nullo casu remaneret dos apud maritum.
[By Paulus, from the first book of his six books on Imperial Opinions Delivered in Judicial Hearings.] When the question was raised whether the phrase 'that upon dissolution of the marriage the dowry is to be returned' included not only divorce but also death—that is, whether the contracting parties intended this case as well—and while many thought that they had intended this, and to certain others the contrary seemed to be the case, the Emperor, moved by this, pronounced that it had been so transacted under that agreement, so that in no case should the dowry remain with the husband.

Notes

  1. §50.16.240.prsoluto matrimonio dotem reddi — Consisting of the ablative absolute soluto matrimonio ('upon dissolution of the marriage') and the accusative-with-infinitive clause dotem reddi ('that the dowry is to be returned'). It functions appositively to define the content of the phrase (uerbum).
  2. §50.16.240.prhoc sensisse — An accusative-with-infinitive clause serving as the object of the verb putabant. The subject accusative of the infinitive sensisse is the contract parties (contrahentes) from the preceding an clause, which is omitted due to context.
  3. §50.16.240.prsecundum: hoc motus — Indicates the basis on which the Emperor made his decision. 'hoc' in 'secundum hoc' (in accordance with this) refers to the majority opinion that the parties intended to include the case of death, and motus (moved) is a participle modifying the subject imperator.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.240.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.240.pr

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