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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.4.16.pr-50.4.16.3

Prohibition of Money for Honors and Rules of Public Duties

Passage 8713 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section regulates the prohibition of monetary substitution for performing an honor, the obligation to pay the full promised sum once performance has begun, the exemption of a son from guaranteeing on behalf of his father, and the limitation on undertaking municipal defense.

[PAULUS libro primo sententiarum. ] §50.4.16.prAestimationem honoris aut muneris in pecunia pro administratione offerentes audiendi non sunt.
[PAULUS, In the First Book of Sentences.] Those who offer the estimated value of an honor or public duty in money, in place of its administration, must not be heard.
§50.4.16.1Qui pro honore pecuniam promisit, si soluere eam coepit, totam praestare operis inchoati exemplo cogendus est.
He who has promised money for an honor, if he has begun to pay it, must be compelled to pay the whole amount, on the analogy of a work commenced.
§50.4.16.2Inuitus filius pro patre rem publicam saluam fore cauere non cogitur.
Against his will, a son is not compelled to guarantee on behalf of his father that the public property will be safe.
§50.4.16.3Defensionem rei publicae amplius quam semel suscipere nemo cogitur, nisi id fieri necessitas postulet.
No one is compelled to undertake the defense of the municipality more than once, unless necessity demands that this be done.

Notes

  1. 50.4.16.profferentes audiendi non sunt — The present active participle `offerentes` is used substantively as the subject, while the passive periphrastic conjugation `audiendi non sunt` (gerundive with `sunt`) is used to express a legal prohibition or obligation ("they must not be heard").
  2. 50.4.16.1operis inchoati exemplo — Meaning "on the analogy of a work commenced." The ablative `exemplo` indicates the standard of legal analogy. In Roman law, just as there is an obligation to complete a public work once begun (`opus inchoatum`), a similar rule is applied here to compel the full payment of money once performance has commenced.
  3. 50.4.16.2rem publicam saluam fore cauere — The infinitive `cauere` ("to guarantee" or "to provide security") takes the accusative with future infinitive construction `rem publicam saluam fore` ("that the public property will be safe") as its object. This refers to providing security against financial damages that the municipality might suffer due to the father's assumption of public office.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.4.16.pr-50.4.16.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.4.16.pr-50.4.16.3

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