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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.174.pr-50.17.174.1

Fulfillment of Conditions and Renunciation of the Impossible

Passage 9234 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is ruled that whoever can make it possible to fulfill a condition is deemed already able to do so, and that what cannot be possessed cannot be renounced.

[IDEM libro octauo ad Plautium. ] §50.17.174.prQui potest facere, ut possit condicioni parere, iam posse uidetur.
[THE SAME, in the eighth book on Plautius.] He who is able to act in such a way that he can comply with a condition is already deemed to be able to comply.
§50.17.174.1Quod quis si uelit habere non potest, id repudiare non potest.
What a person cannot have even if he should wish to, that he cannot renounce.

Notes

  1. 50.17.174.prfacere, ut — The verb facere followed by an ut-clause with the subjunctive (here possit) forms a causative or consecutive construction meaning 'to bring it about that' or 'to act in such a way that'. Combined with potest, it means 'is able (potest) to bring it about (facere) that he can (possit) [comply]'. At the end of the sentence, condicioni parere is understood to be supplied after posse.
  2. 50.17.174.1Quod quis si uelit habere non potest, id — The relative clause introduced by the relative pronoun quod is placed before its antecedent pronoun id (prolepsis/inversion). The overall structure is id ... repudiare non potest ('that [which...] he cannot renounce'). Within the relative clause, uelit is in the present subjunctive, expressing a hypothetical or concessive nuance ('even if he should wish to').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.174.pr-50.17.174.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.174.pr-50.17.174.1

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