Justinian•CODEX
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HISTORIA RERUM IN PARTIBUS TRANSMARINIS GESTARUM24 sections
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Cum proponas radicibus arborum in vicina agathangeli area positis crescentibus fundamentis domus tuae periculum adferri, praeses ad exemplum interdictorum, quae in albo proposita habet: " si arbor in alienas aedes impendebit", item: " si arbor in alienum agrum impendebit", quibus ostenditur ne per arboris quidem occasionem vicino nocere oportere, rem ad suam aequitatem rediget. * alex. a. apro evocato.
Since you propose that, with the roots of trees planted in the neighboring courtyard of Agathangelus, as they grow, danger is brought to the foundations of your house, the governor, following the example of the interdicts which he has set forth on the album: " si a tree shall overhang into another’s house", likewise: " si a tree shall overhang into another’s field", by which it is shown that one ought not to harm a neighbor even on the pretext of a tree, will bring the matter to an equitable resolution. * alexander augustus to apro, a recalled veteran.
Incerti iuris non est orta proprietatis et possessionis lite prius possessionis decidi oportere quaestionem competentibus actionibus, ut ex hoc ordine facto de dominii disceptatione probationes ab eo qui de possessione victus est exigantur. interdicta autem licet in extraordinariis iudiciis proprie locum non habent, tamen ad exemplum eorum res agitur. * diocl.
It is not a matter of uncertain law that, when litigation about property and possession has arisen, the question of possession ought first to be decided by the competent actions, so that, with this order observed, in the disputation about dominion proofs are demanded from the one who has been defeated as to possession. interdicts, however, although in extraordinary proceedings they do not properly have a place, nevertheless the matter is conducted on their example. * diocl.
Hereditatem eius, quem patrem tuum fuisse dicis, petiturus iudicibus qui super ea re cognituri erunt de fide intentionis adlega. quamvis enim bonorum possessionem ut praeteritus agnovisti, tamen interdicto quorum bonorum non aliter possessor constitui poteris, quam si te defuncti filium esse et ad hereditatem vel bonorum possessionem admissum probaveris. * sev.
When you are about to claim the inheritance of him whom you say was your father, allege before the judges who will take cognizance over that matter as to the good faith of the claim. For although you have acknowledged bonorum possession as one pretermitted, nevertheless by the interdict quorum bonorum you will not otherwise be able to be constituted possessor than if you prove that you are the son of the deceased and that you have been admitted to the inheritance or to bonorum possession. * sev.
Si ex edicto sororis patruelis intestato sine liberis defunctae recte petita bonorum possessione quaesisti successionem ac negotium integrum est, quae cum moreretur eius fuerunt, secundum edicti quorum bonorum tenorem ab his, qui pro herede vel pro possessore possident dolove malo fecerint, quo magis desierint possidere, tibi rector provinciae restitui efficiet. * diocl. et maxim.
If, under the edict, you have sought the succession by properly applying for bonorum possessio of your paternal cousin who died intestate and without children, and the matter is unimpaired, the things which were hers when she died, in accordance with the tenor of the edict “quorum bonorum,” the governor of the province will cause to be restored to you from those who possess as heir or as possessor, or who by malicious fraud have acted so as to cease possessing. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Unde si legatarius vel fideicommissarius non consentiente patre tuo, quem adseveras testatori successisse et bonorum possessionem accepisse, relicta sibi legata vel fideicommissa detinuit, secundum sententiam interdicti, quod adversus legatarios scriptis heredibus propositum est, oblata satisdatione, quam praestari oportet, in possessione constitui, ut ita retentione competenti utaris, experiri potes. <a 293 d. xvi k. ian. aa. conss.>
Whence, if a legatee or a fideicommissary, without the consent of your father—whom you assert to have succeeded to the testator and to have received possession of the goods—has detained the legacies or fideicommissa left to him, you can proceed, according to the tenor of the interdict which has been proposed against legatees in favor of the named heirs, upon offering the surety which ought to be furnished, to be placed in possession, so that you may thus make use of the appropriate right of retention. <a 293, day 16 before the Kalends of January, the Augusti as consuls.>
Si de possessione vi deiectus es, eum et legis iuliae vis privatae reum postulare et ad instar interdicti unde vi convenire potes, quo reum causam omnem praestare, in qua fructus etiam, quos vetus possessor percipere potuit, non quos praedo percepit, venire non ambigitur. * diocl. et maxim.
If you have been ejected by force from possession, you can both prosecute him as defendant under the Lex Julia on private force and sue him after the fashion of the interdict “unde vi,” by which the defendant must make good the whole matter, in which it is not doubted that the fruits also are included—those which the former possessor could have taken, not those which the robber took. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Meminerint cuncti, sive vulgato rescripto mansuetudinis nostrae sive sententia cuiuslibet iudicis utantur in causis, conveniendos dominos locorum esse aut, si forte defuerint, actores eorum ad insinuandas sententias procuratoresque quaerendos, ne inde iniuriarum nascatur occasio, unde iura nascuntur. quod si praecepta nostra implere neglexerint, omni negotio, de quo iurgare coeperant, privabuntur. * grat.
Let all remember that, whether they use in causes the published rescript of our clemency or the sentence of any judge, the lords of the places must be convened, or, if perchance they are lacking, their stewards for the notification of the sentences and procurators must be sought, lest from that whence rights are born there arise an occasion of injuries. But if they neglect to fulfill our precepts, they will be deprived of the entire business about which they had begun to litigate. * grat.
Sin autem habito plerumque colludio curatores vel tutores minorum his rem debitam ea occasione pervadant, ut pupillis vel adultis iurgandi copia et fructus adimatur, his eatenus subvenimus, ut eosdem non atterat damno culpa temeritatis alienae, sed ilico quidem possessio ei a quo est ablata reddatur, curatores autem vel tutores aeterna deportatione punitos bonorum quoque publicatio persequatur. <a 382 d. prid. non.
But if, when collusion has for the most part been arranged, the curators or tutors of minors seize on that occasion the property owed to them, so that to wards or to adults the opportunity of litigating and the profits are taken away, we come to their aid to this extent: that the same persons are not worn down by loss through the fault of another’s rashness; but forthwith the possession shall be restored to him from whom it was taken, and let the curators or tutors, punished with perpetual deportation, be followed also by confiscation of their goods. <a 382 d. the day before the Nones.
Si quis in tantam furoris pervenit audaciam, ut possessionem rerum apud fiscum vel apud homines quoslibet constitutarum ante eventum iudicialis arbitrii violenter invaserit, dominus quidem constitutus possessionem quam abstulit restituat possessori et dominium eiusdem rei amittat: sin vero alienarum rerum possessionem invasit, non solum eam possidentibus reddat, verum etiam aestimationem earundem rerum restituere compellatur. * valentin. theodos.
If anyone has come to such an audacity of frenzy as to have violently invaded the possession of things held with the fisc or with any persons whatsoever before the outcome of judicial arbitrium, then, even if he is adjudicated owner, the owner thus constituted shall restore to the possessor the possession which he took away and shall lose the dominion (ownership) of that same thing; but if he has invaded the possession of others’ things, he shall not only return it to the possessors, but shall also be compelled to restore the valuation of those same things. * Valentinian, Theodosius.
Si quando vis iudicio fuerit patefacta, dein super rebus abreptis vel invasis vel damno tempore impetus quaestio proponatur, si non potuerit qui vim sustinuit quae perdidit singula comprobare, taxatione ab iudice facta pro personarum atque negotii qualitate, sacramento aestimationem rerum quas perdidit manifestet nec ei liceat ultra taxationem ab iudice factam iurare: et quod huiusmodi iureiurando dato fuerit declaratum, iudicem condemnare oportet. * zeno a. sebastiano pp. * <a 477 d. id. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum armati vc.>
If ever violence shall have been laid open by judgment, then, when a proceeding is proposed about things carried off or seized or about the damage at the time of the assault, if the one who endured the violence cannot verify individually the things he lost, by an assessment made by the judge, according to the quality of the persons and of the business, let him, by oath, manifest the valuation of the things he lost, and let it not be permitted to him to swear beyond the assessment made by the judge; and what shall have been declared by the giving of such an oath, the judge ought to condemn. * Zeno Augustus to Sebastianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <in 477, on the Ides of December, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Armatus, a most distinguished man.>
Non ab re est, quemadmodum possessionis alienae invasores tam vetus quam praesens sacra constitutio censuit puniendos, nec conductoribus et possessionis alienae detentoribus impune procedere, si locatoribus forte vel possessionem rerum suarum, quam apud alios precario modo esse concesserant, recuperare secundum leges volentibus, cum nulla sibimet cognita legibus adlegatio competeret, duxerint resistendum, et non protinus, id est non expectato iudiciorum ordine, alienam possessionem recte eam recuperantibus cedere patiantur. * zeno a. sebastiano pp. * <a 484 d. v k. april. constantinopoli theodorico cons.>
It is not out of place to state how the sacred constitution, both ancient and present, has judged invaders of another’s possession to be punished; nor are lessees and holders of another’s possession to proceed with impunity, if, when the lessors—namely, those wishing to recover according to the laws the possession of their goods, which they had granted to be with others in a precarious mode—were so wishing, and when no plea known to the laws was available to them, they have judged that resistance must be made, and do not at once, that is, without the order of proceedings being awaited, allow the alien possession to yield to those rightly recovering it. * Zeno Augustus to Sebastianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 484 on the 5 Kalends of April, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Theodoric.>
Eos namque iubemus pro tanta suae iniquitatis impudentia, si cognitionis iudiciariae eventu fuerint condemnati, rei, cuius possessionem sponte restituere usque ad definitivam sententiam minime passi sunt, aestimationem victrici parti una cum ipsa re praebere compelli. <a 484 d. v k. april. constantinopoli theodorico cons.>
For we order that, on account of such impudence of their own iniquity, if they are condemned by the outcome of judicial cognition, they be compelled to furnish to the victorious party, together with the thing itself, the valuation of the thing whose possession they did not allow to be restored voluntarily until the definitive sentence. <a 484 d. v k. april. constantinopoli theodorico cons.>
Cum quaerebatur inter illyricianam advocationem, quid fieri oporteret propter eos, qui vacuam possessionem absentium sine iudiciali sententia detinuerunt, quia veteres leges nec unde vi interdictum nec quod vi aut clam vel aliam quandam actionem ad recipiendam talem possessionem definiebant, violentia in ablatam possessionem minime praecedente, nisi domino tantummodo in rem actionem exercere permittentes: nos non concedentes aliquem alienas res vel possessiones per suam auctoritatem usurpare sancimus talem possessorem ut praedonem intellegi et generali iurisdictione ea teneri, quae pro restituenda possessione contra huiusmodi personas veteribus declarata est legibus. ridiculum etenim est dicere vel audire , quod per ignorantiam alienam rem aliquis quasi propriam occupaverit. * iust.
Since it was being inquired within the Illyrician advocacy what ought to be done concerning those who have detained the vacant possession of absentees without a judicial sentence, because the ancient laws defined neither the interdict “unde vi” nor that “quod vi aut clam,” nor any other action for recovering such possession, no violence at all having preceded in the taken-away possession, permitting only the owner to exercise an in rem action: we, not conceding that anyone may usurp another’s things or possessions by his own authority, sanction that such a possessor be understood as a robber, and be held, under the general jurisdiction, to those provisions which have been declared by the ancient laws for the restoration of possession against persons of this sort. For it is ridiculous to say or to hear , that someone has occupied another’s thing as if his own on the plea of ignorance. * JUST.
Omnes autem scire debent, quod non suum est, hoc ad alios modis omnibus pertinere, cum talis dispositio in furti actione iam dudum veteribus legibus definita est dicentibus: si quis alienam rem adversus domini voluntatem attigerit, furti actione tenetur. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
All, moreover, ought to know that what is not one’s own pertains to others in every manner, since such a disposition in the action of theft has long since been defined by the ancient laws, which say: if anyone has touched another’s property against the will of the owner, he is held by an action of theft. <a 532 on the 15th day before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the 2nd year.>
His videlicet, quae super recipienda possessione a nobis disposita sunt, locum habentibus, si non ex die, ex quo possessio detenta est, triginta annorum excesserunt curricula. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
Namely, these, which have been established by us concerning the recovery of possession, have place, if, from the day on which the possession was detained, the courses (periods) of thirty years have not been exceeded. <a 532, day fifteen before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the second year.>
Iudices absentium, qui cuiuslibet rei possessione privati sunt, suscipiant in iure personam et auctoritatis suae formidabile ministerium obiciant atque ita tueantur absentes, ut id solum diligenter inquirant, an eius, qui quolibet modo peregrinatur, possessio ablata est, quam propinquus vel parens vel proximus vel amicus vel colonus vel libertus seu servus quolibet titulo retinebat, nec eos, qui deiecti sunt absentium nomine possidentes, quia minime ipsis dictio causae mandata sit, ab experiunda re secludant, nec, si servi sint, eorum reiciant in iure personas, quia huiusmodi condicionis hominibus causas orare fas non sit: sed post elapsa quoque spatia recuperandae possessionis legibus praestituta litigium eis inferentibus largiri convenit, ut eos momentariae perinde possessioni sine ulla cunctatione restituant, ac si reversus dominus litigasset. * const. a. severo.
Let judges take up the persona in law of absentees who have been deprived of the possession of any thing, and interpose the formidable ministry of their authority, and thus protect the absent in such a way that they diligently inquire only this: whether the possession of one who in any manner peregrinates has been taken away, which a relative or a parent or a nearest kinsman or a friend or a colonus or a freedman or a slave was retaining under any title; nor are they to exclude from trying the matter those who, having been cast out, were possessing in the name of absentees, because the pleading of the cause has by no means been mandated to them; nor, if they be slaves, are they to reject their legal personas on the ground that it is not lawful for men of such a condition to plead causes: but even after the periods prescribed by the laws for recovering possession have elapsed, it is fitting to grant an action to those bringing suit, so that they restore them to temporary (momentary) possession without any delay, just as if the master, having returned, had litigated. * a constitution of the Augustus to Severus.
Cui tamen quolibet tempore reverso actionem recuperandae possessionis indulgemus , quia fieri potest, ut restitutio propter servulos infideles vel neglegentes propinquos vel parentes vel proximos vel amicos et colonos vel libertos interea differatur. absentibus enim officere non debet tempus emensum, quod recuperandae possessioni legibus praestitutum est, sed reformato statu, qui per iniuriam sublatus est, omnia quae supererunt ad disceptationem litigii immutilata permaneant: iudicio servato iustis legitimisque personis, cum valde sufficiat possessionem tenentibus absentium nomine contra praesentium violentiam subveniri. <a 326 d. x k. nov.
Yet to him, upon his return at any time whatsoever, we grant the action for recovering possession , because it can happen that restitution is meanwhile deferred on account of unfaithful slaves or negligent relatives or parents or next-of-kin or friends and coloni (tenant-farmers) or freedmen. For to the absent the time elapsed, which has been prescribed by the laws for the recovery of possession, ought not to be prejudicial, but with the status restored which was taken away through injury, let all things which have remained for the disceptation of the litigation remain unimpaired: with the action reserved to just and lawful persons, since it is quite sufficient that succor be afforded to those holding possession in the name of the absent against the violence of those present. <a 326 d. x k. nov.
Nec imperiale responsum, quod supplicatio litigatoris obtinuit, nec interlocutio cognitoris ex quacumque parte innovare possessionis statum eo qui rem tenet absente permittitur, quia negotiorum merita partium adsertione panduntur. * arcad. et honor.
Neither the imperial rescript which the litigant’s petition has obtained, nor the interlocutory order of the judge, is permitted, from any quarter, to alter the status of possession in the absence of the one who holds the thing, since the merits of the matters are laid open by the parties’ assertion. * Arcadius and Honorius
Uti possidetis fundum de quo agitur, cum ab altero nec vi nec clam nec precario possidetis, rector provinciae vim fieri prohibebit ac satisdationis vel transferendae possessionis edicti perpetui forma servata de proprietate cognoscet. * diocl. et maxim.
As you possess, under the Uti possidetis, the estate about which the suit is at issue, since you possess it from the other neither by force nor by stealth nor by precarium, the governor of the province will forbid force to be used and, the form of the Perpetual Edict concerning surety or the transferring of possession being observed, will take cognizance regarding ownership. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si, ut proponis, cum tua e potestatis esses, super rebus matris obtinuisti, potes eos qui tibi condemnati sunt convenire. quod si extitit, qui te filium et in sua potestate esse contendit, interdicto in eam rem proposito de fide intentionis eius quaeretur. * ant.
If, as you propose, when you were in your own power you prevailed concerning your mother’s affairs, you can sue those who were condemned in your favor. But if there exists someone who contends that you are his son and under his power, an interdict having been proposed for that matter, inquiry will be made into the good faith of his intention. * Antoninus.
Si te non remittente pignus debitor tuus ea quae tibi obnoxia sunt venumdedit, integrum tibi ius est ea persequi, non interdicto salviano ( id enim tantummodo adversus conductorem debitoremve competit), sed serviana actione vel quae ad exemplum eius instituitur utilis adversus emptorem exercenda. * gord. a. aristoni.
If, you not returning the pledge, your debtor has sold those things that are liable to you, you have the full right to pursue them, not by the Salvian interdict ( for that is competent only against the lessee or the debtor), but by the Servian action or by the useful action established on its example, to be exercised against the purchaser. * Gordian, A., to Aristo.
Et balneum, ut desideras, instruere et aedificium ei superponere potes, observata tamen forma, qua ceteri super balnea aedificare permittuntur, id est ut concamaratis superinstruas et ipsa concameres nec modum usitatum altitudinis excedas. * ant. et verus aa. tauro.
And, as you desire, you can construct a bath and superpose an edifice upon it, provided that you observe the form by which others are permitted to build over baths—that is, that you make the superstructure with vaults and vault them themselves, and that you do not exceed the customary measure of height. * Antoninus and Verus, Augusti, to Taurus.
Negotiandi causa aedificia demoliri et marmora detrahere edicto divi vespasiani et senatus consulto vetitum est. ceterum de alia domo in aliam transferre quaedam licere exceptum est: sed nec dominis ita transferre licet, ut integris aedificiis depositis publicus deformetur adspectus. * alex.
For the sake of commerce it has been forbidden by the edict of the deified Vespasian and by a senatorial decree to demolish buildings and to strip off marbles. However, an exception has been made that it is permitted to transfer certain things from one house to another; but neither is it permitted for owners to transfer in such a way that, with intact buildings taken down, the public aspect is disfigured. * alex.
An in totum ex ruina domus licuerit non eandem faciem in civitate restituere, sed in hortum convertere, et an hoc consensu tunc magistratuum non prohibentium, item vicinorum factum sit, praeses, probatis his quae in oppido frequenter in eodem genere controversiarum servata sunt, causa cognita statuet. * alex. a. apro evocato.
Whether altogether, from the ruin of a house, it was permitted not to restore the same façade in the city, but to convert it into a garden, and whether this was done with the consent at that time of the magistrates who did not forbid it, and likewise of the neighbors, the governor, having examined the case, will decide, adopting as precedents those things which in the town have frequently been observed in the same class of controversies. * Alexander Augustus to Apro, an Evocatus.
Si, ut proponis, socius aedificii ad refectionem eius sumptus conferre detractat , non necessarie extra ordinem tibi subveniri desideras. etenim si solus aedificaveris nec intra quattuor mensuum tempora cum centesimis nummus pro portione socii erogatus restitutus fuerit vel, quominus id fieret, per socium id stetisse constiterit, ius dominii pro solido vindicare vel obtinere iuxta placitum antiquitus poteris. * philipp.
If, as you propose, the partner of the building refuses to contribute expenses for its repair, you need not desire to be aided extra ordinem. For if you alone shall have rebuilt, and within a period of four months the money disbursed for the partner’s share, together with interest at the centesimae rate, has not been repaid, or it is established that it was owing to the partner that this was not done, you will be able to vindicate or obtain the right of ownership for the whole (pro solido) according to ancient precedent. * philipp.
Si is, contra quem precem fundis, sciens prudensque soli partem ad te petinere, non quasi socius vel collega communis operis sollicitudine solidam balneorum extructionem ea mente, ut sumptus pro portione tua reciperet, adgressus est, sed totius loci dominium usurpare et collapsum balneum refabricare enisus est, cum aedificia quae alieno loco imponuntur solo cedant nec impensae his qui improbe id fecerint restitui debeant, antiquato divi hadriani edicto praeses provinciae memor iuris publici in dirimenda disceptatione legum placita custodiet. * diocl. et maxim.
If he against whom you pour forth your petition, knowing and aware that a part of the soil pertains to you, did not, as a partner or colleague, with concern for a common work, undertake the solid construction of the baths with the intention that he recover the expenses in proportion to your share, but strove to usurp the dominion of the whole place and to refabricate the collapsed bath, since buildings which are imposed on another’s place cede to the soil and expenses ought not to be restored to those who have done this improperly, with the edict of the deified Hadrian abrogated, the governor of the province, mindful of public law, in resolving the dispute will keep the settled determinations of the laws. * diocl. et maxim.
Si quis autem ex alia in aliam civitatem labentium parietum marmora vel columnas de propriis domibus in proprias transferre voluerit, quoniam utrobique( !) haec esse publicum decus est, licenter hoc faciat: data similiter facultate etiam de possessione ornatum huiusmodi ad possessionem aliam transferendi, quamvis per muros vel etiam per mediam civitatem ea transferri necesse sit, ita ut ea solummodo quae illata fuerint civitatibus exportentur. <a 321 d. vi k. iun. viminacii crispo ii et constantino ii conss.>
If anyone, however, should wish to transfer from one city to another the marbles or columns of collapsing walls from his own houses into his own, since in both places these are a public ornament (utrobique( !)), let him do this freely: with a similar faculty granted also to transfer an ornament of this kind from a possession to another possession, although it may be necessary that they be conveyed through the walls or even through the middle of the city, provided that only those things which have been brought into the cities be exported. <a 321 on the 6th day before the kalends of june, at viminacium, crispus 2 and constantine 2, consuls.>
Possessores vero, qui non erunt curiales, in urbibus, in quibus domus possident, easdem domos dirutas neglectasque reparent, iudiciaria ad conservandum hoc praeceptum auctoritate retinendi. <a 377 d. xiii k. nov. gratiano a. iiii et merobaude conss.>
Possessors, however, who will not be curials, in the cities in which they possess houses, shall repair those same houses, if ruined and neglected, with judicial authority retained to enforce this precept. <a 377, on the 13th day before the Kalends of November, in the consulship of Gratian Augustus 4 and Merobaudes, consuls.>
Si cui loci proprietas aedificandi iuxta publicas aedes animum dederit, quindecim pedum spatio interiecto inter publica ac privata aedificia ita sibi noverit fabricandum, ut tali intervallo et publicae aedes a periculo vindicentur et privatus aedificator velut perperam fabricato loco destructionis futurae quandoque non timeat detrimentum. * arcad. honor.
If anyone’s ownership of a site has given him the intention of building next to public buildings, let him know to construct for himself with a space of 15 feet interposed between the public and the private buildings, so that by such an interval both the public buildings are vindicated from peril and the private builder, as if by a place wrongly constructed for future destruction, may not at some time fear detriment. * arcad. honor.
Per provincias mesopotamiam osroenam euphratensem syriam secundam phoenicen libanensem ciliciam secundam utramque armeniam utramque cappadociam pontum polemoniacum atque hellenopontum, ubi magis hoc desideratur, ceterasque provincias cunctis volentibus permittatur murali ambitu fundos proprios seu loca sui dominii constituta vallare. * honor. et theodos.
Through the provinces Mesopotamia, Osroene, Euphratensis, Second Syria, Phoenice Libanensis, Second Cilicia, both Armenias, both Cappadocias, Pontus Polemoniacus and Hellenopontus, where this is more desired, and the other provinces, let it be permitted to all who wish to wall-in with a mural circuit their own estates or places established under their own dominion. * Honorius and Theodosius.
Quem intercapedinis modum aedificaturis quoque proponimus, ita ut, si quis intra definitum spatium, id est decem pedum mensuram, aedificare vel intra quindecim pedum maenianum possidere temptaverit, sciat non solum fabricam demoliendam, sed etiam ipsam domum fisco nostro adscribendam. <a 423 d. iii non. mai.
We also set forth this measure of interval for those who are to build, such that, if anyone should attempt to build within the defined space, that is a measure of ten feet, or to possess a balcony within fifteen feet, let him know that not only is the structure to be demolished, but even the house itself is to be assigned to our fisc. <a 423 on the 3rd day before the Nones of May.
Cum dubitabatur, utrum constitutio zenonis divae memoriae ad adamantium praefectum urbis scripta, quae de servitutibus loquitur, localis est et huic florentissimae urbi dedicata et debent illius quidem iura in hac observari, antiqua vero, quae contraria sunt, locum habere in provinciis: indignum esse nostro tempore putantes aliud ius in hac regia civitate de huiusmodi observari, aliud apud nostros esse provinciales, sancimus eandem constitutionem in omnibus urbibus romani imperii obtinere et secundum eius definitionem omnia procedere et, si quid ius ex ea lege innovatum est a vetere dispositione, et hoc in provinciis a praesidibus earum observari: ceteris videlicet omnibus, quae non per zenonianam legem innovata sunt, sed veteribus legibus comprehensa, in sua firmitate in omni loco manentibus. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. k. sept.
Since it was doubted whether the constitution of Zeno, of blessed memory, written to Adamantius, Prefect of the City, which speaks about servitudes, is local and dedicated to this most flourishing city, and whether the rights of that statute ought indeed to be observed here, but the ancient ones, which are contrary, to have place in the provinces: considering it unworthy in our time that one law on such matters be observed in this royal city, and another be in force among our provincials, we ordain that the same constitution obtain in all the cities of the Roman Empire, and that all things proceed according to its definition; and that, if any law has been innovated by that statute from the former arrangement, this too be observed in the provinces by their governors: with all other matters, namely those which have not been innovated through the Zenonian law but are encompassed by the older laws, remaining in their own firmness in every place. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 531 d. k. Sept.
De operis novi nuntiatione quandam antiquis ortam fuisse dubitationem nostra cognovit tranquillitas, dicentibus, si quis denuntiationem ad inhibendum opus miserit, non posse eum post annum elapsum, ex quo denuntiatio missa est, iterum aedificationem prohibere. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 532 d. xii k. nov.
Concerning the notice of new work, our Tranquility has come to know that a certain doubt had arisen among the ancients, people saying that, if anyone should send a denunciation to inhibit a work, he cannot, after a year has elapsed from the time the denunciation was sent, again prohibit the building. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 532 on the twelfth day before the Kalends of November.
Talem igitur iniquitatem inhibentes sancimus, si quis denuntiationem emiserit, in hac quidem regia urbe praefectum urbi festinare, in provincia vero rectorem eius, intra trium mensum spatium causam dirimere: sin vero aliquid fuerit quocumque modo ad decisionem ambiguitatis impedimentum, licentiam habere eum, qui aedificationem deproperat, opus de quo agitur efficere, prius fideiussore ab eo dato officio urbicariae praefecturae vel provinciali. ut, si non recte aedificaverit, omne opus, quod post denuntiationem fecerit, suis sumptibus destruet. sic enim et opera non per inanes denuntiationes prohibebuntur et recte denuntiantibus consuletur.
Accordingly, inhibiting such iniquity, we sanction that, if anyone shall have issued a denunciation, in this royal city indeed the prefect of the city is to make haste, and in the province its governor, to decide the case within the span of three months: but if there shall be any impediment in any way to the decision of the ambiguity, the one who hastens the building is to have license to effect the work in question, a surety first being given by him to the office of the urban prefecture or of the provincial authority, so that, if he has not built correctly, he will destroy at his own expense every work which he has done after the denunciation. For thus both works will not be prohibited by empty denunciations and provision will be made for those denouncing rightly.
Praescriptio temporis iuri publico non debet obsistere, sed nec rescripta quidem. atque ideo diruenda sunt omnia, quae per diversas urbes vel in foro vel in quocumque publico loco contra ornatum et commodum ac decoram faciem civitatis extructa noscuntur. * grat.
Prescription by time ought not to obstruct public law, nor indeed should rescripts. And therefore everything must be demolished which, throughout various cities, either in the forum or in whatever public place, is known to have been erected against the ornament and utility and the decorous appearance of the city. * grat.
Omnes, quibus vel cura mandata fuerit operum publicorum vel pecunia ad extructionem solito more credita, usque ad annos quindecim ab opere perfecto cum suis heredibus teneantur obnoxii, ita ut, si quid vitii in aedificatione intra praestitutum tempus provenerit, de eorum patrimonio ( exceptis tamen his casibus, qui sunt fortuiti) reformetur. * grat. valentin.
All, to whom either the care of public works shall have been entrusted or money for construction shall have been credited in the customary manner, shall be held liable, together with their heirs, for up to fifteen years from the completion of the work, such that, if any defect in the building should arise within the prescribed time, it shall be repaired out of their patrimony ( excepting, however, those cases which are fortuitous). * grat. valentin.
Si quando concessa a nobis licentia fuerit extruendi, id sublimis magnificentia tua sciat esse servandum, ut nulla domus inchoandae publicae fabricae gratia diruatur, nisi usque ad quinquaginta libras argenti pretii aestimatione taxabitur. * theodos. arcad.
If at any time a license granted by us for building shall have been given, let your Sublime Magnificence know that this is to be observed: that no house is to be torn down for the sake of a public work to be begun, unless it shall be assessed, by an estimation of price, at up to fifty pounds of silver. * Theodosius, Arcadius.
Omnes provinciarum rectores litteris moneantur, ut sciant ordines atque incolas urbium singularum muros vel novos debere facere vel veteres firmius renovare: scilicet hoc pacto impendiis ordinandis, ut adscriptio currat pro viribus singulorum, deinde adscribantur pro aestimatione futuri operis territoria civium, ne plus poscatur aliquid, quam necessitas imperaverit, neve minus, ne instans impediatur effectus: oportet namque per singula non sterilia iuga certa quaeque distribui, ut par cunctis praebendorum sumptuum necessitas imponatur: nemini excusatione vel alia praesumptione ab huiusmodi immunitate praebenda. * arcad. et honor.
Let all governors of the provinces be admonished by letters, that they know the orders and the inhabitants of each city must either make new walls or more firmly renew the old: namely, with expenditures to be arranged on this plan, that the assessment run according to the resources of individuals; then let the lands of the citizens be enrolled according to the appraisal of the future work, lest anything be demanded more than necessity has commanded, nor less, lest the imminent execution be impeded. For it is fitting that in each case the productive land-tax units (iuga) be apportioned in fixed quotas, so that an equal necessity of expenses to be furnished be imposed upon all: let immunity of this kind be afforded to no one by excuse or any other presumption. * Arcadius and Honorius.
Nemo iudicum in id temeritatis erumpat, ut inconsulta pietate nostra novi aliquid operis existimet inchoandum, vel ex diversis operibus ornamenta aut marmora vel quamlibet speciem, quae fuisse in usu vel ornatu probabitur civitatis, eripere vel alio transferre sine iussu tuae sublimitatis audeat. etenim si quis contra fecerit, sex libris auri multabitur. * arcad.
Let none of the judges burst into such temerity as to think that something of a new work is to be begun without our Piety’s being consulted, or dare to seize from various works the ornaments or marbles or any sort whatsoever which shall be proved to have been in the use or adornment of the city, or to transfer them elsewhere, without the order of your Sublimity. For indeed, if anyone shall do contrary, he will be fined six pounds of gold. * arcad.
Aedificia, quae vulgo parapessia nuncupantur, vel si qua alia opera moenibus vel publicis operibus sociata cohaerent, ut ex his incendium vel insidias vicinitas reformidet aut angustentur spatia platearum vel minuatur porticibus latitudo, dirui ac prosterni praecipimus. * arcad. et honor.
Edifices which are commonly called parapessia, or if any other works, joined and cohering to the city walls or to public works, are such that the neighborhood fears from them fire or ambush, or the spaces of the streets are constricted, or the breadth is diminished by porticoes, we command to be demolished and razed. * Arcadius and Honorius.
Si aliquando homines emergant, qui a nostra clementia opus publicum sibi praeberi postulaverint, non nisi diruta penitusque destructa et quae parum sunt in usu civitatium percipiant: intimandis huiusmodi rescriptis iudicio amplissimae tuae sedis. * arcad. et honor.
If ever there should arise men who have petitioned from our clemency that a public work be furnished to themselves, let them receive only what is demolished and utterly destroyed, and those things which are little in use to the cities: rescripts of this kind being to be intimated by the judgment of your most ample seat. * Arcadius and Honorius.
Si quando usus exegerit vel porticus vel quaslibet aedes aetatis senio seu fortuitis concussas casibus reparari, liceat etiam inconsulta clementia nostra cum reverentia sui imaginem deponere vel nostram vel retro principum, reportatamque post refecta aedificia loco proprio denuo collocare. * arcad. et honor.
If at any time need should require that either a portico or any buildings whatsoever, shaken by the senility of age or by fortuitous accidents, be repaired, it is allowed, even without consulting our clemency, to take down, with reverence for itself, the image either of us or of former emperors, and, once removed, after the buildings have been restored, to place it anew in its proper place. * Arcadius and Honorius.
Quicumque locus in palatio huius urbis privatis aedificiis incommode occupatus est, is quam primum subrutis omnibus quae in eo sunt aedificiis palatio reformetur, quod privatorum non est parietibus coartandum ( nam imperio magna ab universis secreta debentur), ut hi tantum locum habeant habitandi, quos legitimus maiestatis nostrae usus et rei publicae disciplina delegit: in futurum etiam universis ab huiusmodi usurpatione prohibendis. * honor. et theodos.
Whatever place in the palace of this city has been incommodiously occupied by private buildings, let it, as soon as possible, after all the buildings that are in it have been razed, be restored to the palace, which is not to be hemmed in by the walls of private persons ( for great secrets are owed by all to the Imperium), so that only those may have a place for habitation whom the legitimate use of Our Majesty and the discipline of the Republic has selected; and for the future also, let all be prohibited from such a usurpation. * Honorius and Theodosius.
Turres novi muri, qui ad munitionem splendidissimae urbis extructus est, completo opere praecipimus eorum usui deputari, per quorum terras idem murus studio ac provisione tuae magnitudinis ex nostrae serenitatis arbitrio celebratur. * honor. et theodos.
The towers of the new wall, which has been erected for the fortification of the most splendid city, the work having been completed, we order to be assigned to the use of those through whose lands the same wall, by the zeal and provision of your Magnitude, is celebrated at the discretion of our Serenity. * hon. and theod.
Eadem lege in perpetuum et condicione servanda, ut annis singulis hi vel ad quorum iura terrulae demigraverint, proprio sumptu eorum instaurationem sibimet intellegant procurandam, eorumque usu publico beneficio potientes curam reparationis ac sollicitudinem ad se non ambigant pertinere. <a 413 d. prid. non.
With the same law and condition to be observed forever, that each year these persons, or those into whose rights the little plots (terrulae) shall have passed, should understand that their restoration is to be procured by themselves at their own expense, and, holding their use by public benefice, let them not doubt that the care and concern for repair pertains to themselves. <a 413 d. prid. non.
Quia plurimae domus cum officinis suis in porticibus zeuxippi esse memorantur, reditus memoratorum locorum pro quantitate, quae placuit, ad praebenda luminaria et aedificia ac tecta reparanda regiae huius urbis lavacro sine aliqua iubemus excusatione conferri. * theodos. a. severino pu. * <a 424 d. v id. ian.
Because very many houses with their workshops are reported to be in the porticoes of the Zeuxippus, we order that the revenues of the aforementioned places, in the amount which has pleased (been approved), be contributed, without any excuse, for supplying lighting and for repairing the buildings and roofs of the bath of this royal city. * Theodosius Augustus to Severinus, Urban Prefect. * <a 424 on the 5th day before the Ides of January.
Qui sine auctoritate divini rescripti ad iudicium tuae celsitudinis destinandi angiportus integros vel partes suis domibus incluserint seu porticus usurparint, procul dubio iura pristina sacratissimae reddere civitati iubemus: multa auri quinquaginta librarum non defutura, si quis posthac in similem audaciam prodire temptaverit. * theodos. et valentin.
Those who, without the authority of a divine rescript and without a reference to the judgment of Your Highness, have enclosed with their own houses entire alleyways or parts thereof, or have usurped porticoes, we command without doubt to restore the pristine rights to the most sacrosanct city: a fine of fifty pounds of gold will not be lacking, if anyone hereafter shall attempt to venture into similar audacity. * theodosius and valentinian.
Basilicam inauratam et marmoribus decoratam liberam in perpetuum manere neque alicuius imaginis pictarum cuiuslibet honoris tabularum adumbratione fuscari iubemus, neque in aliqua parte eiusdem basilicae tabulato quicquam opere stationes ergasteriave constitui sancimus. * theodos. et valentin.
We command that the basilica, gilded and adorned with marbles, remain free in perpetuity, and that it not be darkened by the adumbration of any image from painted panels of whatever honor; and we ordain that in no part of the same basilica, upon the boarded flooring, shall any stalls or workshops be set up by any work. * theodosius and valentinian.
Nemini iudicum liceat in hac inclita urbe vel in provinciis nova opera inchoare, priusquam ea, quae coepta invenerit a decessore vel praedecessoribus suis, vetustate diruta aut desidia derelicta diligenti studio instantiaque compleverit, cum ex hoc plurimum laudis adquirat, si ea culta et perfecta reddiderit, quae vetusta sunt et instaurationem requirunt quaeque ab aliis initiata et imperfecta resederant. * leo a. erythrio pp. * <a 472 d. ii k. mart. constantinopoli marciano cons.>
Let none of the judges be permitted in this renowned city or in the provinces to initiate new works before he has, with diligent zeal and urgency, completed those which he finds begun by his predecessor or predecessors, whether ruined by age or left derelict through neglect; since from this he acquires the greatest praise, if he renders as tended and perfected those things which are ancient and require instauration, and which, initiated by others, had remained imperfect. * Leo Aug. to Erythrius, Praetorian Prefect. * <given at Constantinople on February 28, 472, in the consulship of Marcianus.>
Iubemus provinciarum quidem rectores et singulae dioeceseos viros spectabiles iudices, id est praefectum augustalem et comitem orientis et utrosque proconsules et vicarios una cum suis apparitoribus pro tenore generalium magnificae tuae sedis dispositionum discutiendis publicis operibus vel aquae ductibus, qui ex civilibus reditibus vel a quolibet spontanea munificentia facti sunt vel fuerint, modis omnibus abstinere, nec aliquid quolibet modo quolibet tempore in discutiendo civiles reditus vel facta opera vel quae fieri adsolent, unam siliquam sibi ex singulis erogandis solidis vindicando aut quodcumque lucrum captando, cum huiusmodi rebus habere commune, utpote patribus civitatium et curae eorum deputatis. * zeno a. arcadio pp. * <a 485-486?>
We command that the rectors of the provinces and the spectabiles judges of each diocese—that is, the Augustal Prefect and the Count of the East and both Proconsuls and the Vicarii—together with their apparitores, according to the tenor of the general dispositions of your Magnificence’s seat, shall in every way abstain in the auditing of public works or aqueducts which have been or shall be made from civic revenues or from any spontaneous munificence, and that they shall not at all, in any way at any time, while auditing the civic revenues or the works done or those that are wont to be done, claim for themselves one siliqua out of each solidus to be disbursed or seize whatever profit, since matters of this kind are held in common with the fathers of the cities and with those deputed to their care. * zeno a. arcadio pp. * <a 485-486?>
Qui vero opus aliquod pro sua liberalitate se facturos promiserint, licet certum sit eos ex sola pollicitatione ad implendum suae munificentiae opus necessitate iuris teneri, nullam tamen eos vel heredes eorum super facto opere ratiocinium vel discussionem aut aliquam ( utpote non in integrum promissa quantitate in id opus erogata vel inutiliter facto opere, aut alia qua ratione) quocumque modo quocumque tempore inquietudinem sustinere concedimus. <a 485-486?>
Those, however, who shall have promised that they will undertake some work out of their own liberality, although it is certain that from the mere promise they are held by necessity of law to fulfill the work of their munificence, nevertheless we grant that neither they nor their heirs shall sustain any accounting or inquiry, or any disturbance in any way at any time concerning the work performed ( inasmuch as the amount promised was not expended in full upon that work, or the work was done uselessly, or by any other reason). <a 485-486?>
Quod si vir clarissimus provinciae moderator vel eius officium reditus publicos vel opera publica contra vetitum discutiendo vel unam siliquam aut quodlibet ex isdem reditibus vel operibus vindicando sacratissimae nostrae legis praecepta transierint, quinque quidem officii primates exilio damnati perpetuo bona sua civitati quam laeserint non dubitent vindicanda, rector vero provinciae quinquaginta librarum auri ferietur dispendio: hac eadem poena spectabilibus quoque iudicibus, licet illustri dignitate fuerint decorati, et eorum officiis, sicut superius distinctum est, imminenda. <a 485-486?>
But if a most distinguished man, the moderator of a province, or his office, by auditing the public revenues or the public works contrary to the prohibition, or by claiming even a single siliqua or anything from those same revenues or works, shall have transgressed the precepts of our most sacrosanct law, let the five primates of the office, condemned to perpetual exile, not doubt that their goods are to be claimed by the city which they have injured, while the governor of the province will be struck with a penalty of 50 pounds of gold: this same penalty is to be imposed also on judges of spectabilis rank, even if they have been adorned with the illustrious dignity, and on their offices, as has been set out above. <a 485-486?>
Ideoque si certum est posse eum ex his, quae nominatim ei pignori obligata sunt, universum redigere debitum, ea, quae postea ex isdem bonis pignori accepisti, interim non auferri praeses iubebit. <a 204 pp. ii k. iun. cilone et libone conss.>
And therefore, if it is certain that he can, from those things which are by name pledged to him, recover the entire debt, the governor will order that those things which you later accepted in pledge from the same assets not be removed in the meantime. <a 204, on the 2nd day before the Kalends of June, in the consulship of Cilo and Libo.>
Praeses provinciae vir clarissimus ius pignoris tui exsequentem te audiet. nec tibi oberit sententia adversus debitorem tuum dicta, si eum collusisse cum adversario suo aut, ut dicis, non causa cognita, sed praescriptione superatum esse constiterit. * ant.
The governor of the province, a most distinguished man, will hear you as you enforce the right of your pledge. Nor will a judgment pronounced against your debtor be to your detriment, if it has been established that he colluded with his adversary or, as you say, was overcome not with the cause examined, but by prescription. * ant.
Si dominium eius possessionis, quae cum pignori data esset, a debitrice donatu ad te translatum est, eamque postea creditor vel eius heredes detinere coeperunt , vindica eam, praeside provinciae curante, ut, fructuum deducta ratione residuoque a te oblato si fuerit satisfactum, ea possessio tibi reddatur. * gord. a. attico.
If the dominion of that possession, which, although it had been given in pledge, was transferred to you by donation from the female debtor, and afterwards the creditor or his heirs began to detain it , vindicate it, with the provincial governor seeing to it, so that, the account of the fruits having been deducted and the residue tendered by you, if satisfaction shall have been made, that possession be restored to you. * gord. a. to atticus.
Debitores praesentes prius denuntiationibus conveniendi sunt. igitur si conventi debito satis non fecerint, persequenti tibi pignora seu hypothecas, quas instrumento specialiter comprehensas esse dicis, competentibus actionibus rector provinciae auctoritatis suae auxilium impertire non dubitabit. * diocl.
Debtors who are present must first be convened by formal denunciations. therefore, if, when convened, they have not satisfied the debt, to you, the pursuer, as to the pledges or hypothecs which you say are specifically comprehended in the instrument, the governor of the province will not hesitate to impart the aid of his authority through the competent actions. * diocl.
Si uxor tua pro pecunia quam accepit mutuo res proprias obligavit pignori eique tu successisti, licet in instrumentum eius facti testimonium collatum non sit, soluto debito creditorem de his tibi reddendis sollemni iure conveni. * diocl. et maxim.
If your wife, for the money which she received by mutuum, bound her own property in pledge, and you have succeeded to her, although testimony was not attached to the instrument of that act, once the debt has been paid, sue the creditor by the solemn law for the return of these things to you. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Quamvis ea pecunia, quam a te mutuo frater tuus accepit, comparavit praedium, tamen nisi specialiter vel generaliter hoc obligavit, tuae pecuniae numeratio in causam pignoris non deduxit. sane personali actione debitum apud praesidem petere non prohiberis. * diocl.
Although with that money which your brother received from you by way of a loan he purchased a landed estate, nevertheless, unless he specifically or generally charged it, the disbursement of your money did not bring it under the cause of a pledge. Indeed, you are not forbidden to seek the debt before the governor by a personal action. * diocl.
Creditor ad petitionem urgueri iure minime potest. quapropter eo, quod vos heredibus euodiani debere confiditis, oblato et, si nolint accipere, consignato atque deposito de reddendo pignore hos praesidali notione convenite. * diocl.
A creditor can by law in no way be forced to a petition. Wherefore, as to that which you believe you owe to the heirs of Euodianus, with a tender made and, if they are unwilling to accept, with consignation and deposit effected, sue them under the praesidial jurisdiction for the return of the pledge. * diocl.
Super hypothecis, quas argenti distractores vel metaxarii vel alii quarumcumque specierum negotiatores pecunias sibi credentibus dare solent, hoc specialiter super amputanda omni machinatione sancimus, ut, si post huiusmodi contractum liberis suis vel alio modo cognatis quamcumque militiam idem negotiatores adquisierint, ea tamen vendi vel ad heredes sub certa definitione transmitti potest, liceat creditoribus eorum, etiam non probantibus ex pecuniis eorundem negotiatorum liberos eorum vel cognatos militasse ( dum tamen contrarium non probetur alios e suo patrimonio dedisse pecunias), creditum ab his qui militarunt exigere vel tantum eos efflagitare, quanti vendi eadem militia possit. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. k. iun.
Concerning mortgages, which sellers of silver or silk-dealers or other merchants of whatever kinds are accustomed to give to those lending them money, we ordain this specifically, for the purpose of amputating every machination: that, if after such a contract those same merchants shall have acquired for their children or otherwise for their relatives any militia (commission), although this can be sold or transmitted to heirs under a certain specification, it shall be permitted to their creditors, even without proving that from the monies of the same merchants their children or relatives entered militia (provided, however, that the contrary is not proved, namely that others gave the monies from their own patrimony), to exact the loan from those who obtained militia or at least to demand from them as much as the same militia can be sold for. * Justinian Augustus to Mena, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 528 on the Kalends of June.
Quod ita obtinere sancimus, et si extraneis quibusdam idem negotiatores de suis pecuniis huiusmodi militiam adquisisse probentur, ut, quod generaliter in ipsis debitoribus militantibus talem militiam, quae vendi vel ad heredes transmitti potest, permissum est, ut liceat creditoribus et adhuc viventium debitorum iure hypothecae vindicare militias, nisi satis sibi fiat, et post mortem eorum exigere, quod pro isdem militiis pro tenore communis militantium placiti vel divinae sanctionis tale praestantis beneficium dari solet, hoc in negotiatorum personis, licet ipsi militantes minime debito obnoxii sint, integrum creditoribus eorum servetur. <a 528 d. k. iun. dn. iustiniano a. pp. ii cons.>
We sanction that this is to obtain thus; and if it should be proven that the same merchants, out of their own monies, have acquired such a service (militia) for certain outsiders, then—since it has been generally permitted in the case of the debtors themselves who are serving in such a militia, which can be sold or transmitted to heirs—that it be lawful for creditors, by the right of hypothec, to vindicate the services (militiae) of debtors still living, unless satisfaction be made to them, and, after their death, to exact what is accustomed to be given for the same services according to the tenor of the common pact of those serving or of a divine sanction granting such a benefice—this, in the persons of the merchants, although the very men serving are in no way subject to the debt, shall be preserved intact for their creditors. <in the year 528, on the Kalends of June, our lord Justinian, ever Augustus, in his 2nd consulship>
Quamvis fructus pignori datorum praediorum, etsi id aperte non sit expressum, et ipsi pignori credantur tacita pactione esse, praedia tamen, quae emuntur ex fructuum pretio, ad eandem causam venire nulli prudentium placuit. * alex. a. pars ex rescripto.* <a 223 pp. id. oct.
Although the fruits of estates given in pledge, even if that is not openly expressed, are by tacit pact believed themselves also to be in pledge, nevertheless estates which are purchased from the price of the fruits, none of the jurists has approved to come under the same cause. * Alexander Augustus, part from a rescript.* <a 223 after the Ides of Oct.
Satis notum est et idem constitutum bona earum in dotem data, quae nuptae sunt his qui primipili sarcinam subeunt, obnoxia necessitati ei teneri: verum certo ordine, ut scilicet tunc demum ad hoc mulieris patrimonium periculum respiciat, si universis viri ac nominatorum facultatibus exhaustis nihil residuum inveniatur. * carus carinus et numer. aaa.
It is well enough known and likewise established that the goods given by them into dowry—of those who are married to men who undergo the burden of the primipilus—are held liable to that necessity: but in a certain order, namely that only then does the risk look to the woman’s patrimony for this purpose, if, when all the assets of the husband and of the persons named have been exhausted, nothing is found remaining. * Carus, Carinus, and Numerian, Augusti.
Si non in inductis et illatis in fundum, quae pignoris teneri causa placuerat, mancipia fuissent nec haec specialiter obligata monstrentur, rector provinciae ea restitui iubebit. nec enim praetextu debiti pensionum restitutionem horum morari potest, cum, si quid sibi deberi domina fundi ex pensionibus vel quacumque ratione probare possit, huius solutionem sollemniter fieri conveniat. * diocl.
if the slaves were not among the things introduced and brought onto the estate, which it had been agreed should be held as a pledge, and if these are not shown to have been specially obligated, the governor of the province shall order them to be restored. for he cannot, under the pretext of a debt of rents, delay the restitution of these, since, if the mistress of the estate can prove that anything is owed to her from rents or on whatever ground, it is fitting that the payment of this be made in due solemn form. * diocl.
Si mater legitima liberorum tutela suscepta ad secundas contra sacramentum praestitum adspiraverit nuptias, antequam ei tutorem alium fecerit ordinari eique quod debetur ex ratione tutelae gestae persolverit, mariti quoque eius praeteritae tutelae ratiociniis bona iure pignoris tenebuntur obnoxia. * theodos. et valentin.
If a legitimate mother, having undertaken the guardianship of her children, should aspire to second nuptials contrary to the oath given, before she has caused another guardian to be appointed for the ward and has paid to him what is owed by reason of the guardianship discharged, her husband's property also shall be held liable, under a right of pledge, to the accounts of the past guardianship. * Theodosius and Valentinian.
Sancimus de invectis a conductore rebus et illatis, quae domino pro pensionibus tacite obligantur, non solum in utraque roma et territorio earum hoc ius locum habere, sed etiam in nostris provinciis. tali enim iusta praesumptione etiam omnes nostros provinciales perpotiri desideramus. * iust.
We enact that, concerning the goods brought in and carried in by the lessee, which are tacitly obligated to the owner for the rents, this right shall have place not only in both Romes and in their territory, but also in our provinces. For by such a just presumption we desire that all our provincials also fully enjoy the same. * iust.
Si probaveris praesidi hortos de quibus agebatur tuos esse, intellegis obligari eos creditori ab alio non potuisse, si non sciens hoc agi in fraudem creditoris ignorantis dissimulasti. * sev. et ant.
If you prove to the governor that the gardens which were the subject of the action are yours, you understand that they could not have been obligated to a creditor by someone else, unless you, knowing that this was being done in fraud of an ignorant creditor, dissimulated it. * Severus and Antoninus.
Cum res, quae necdum in bonis debitoris est, pignori data ab eo postea in bonis eius esse incipiat, ordinariam quidem actionem super pignore non competere manifestum est, sed tamen aequitatem facere, ut facile utilis persecutio exemplo pignoraticiae daretur. * diocl. et maxim.
When a thing which is not yet in the debtor’s assets, having been given in pledge by him, thereafter begins to be in his assets, it is manifest that the ordinary action concerning the pledge does not lie; yet equity brings it about that a readily useful pursuit be afforded, on the example of the pigneratic action. * diocl. et maxim.
Quae praedium in filios a se titulo donationis translatum creditori suo dat pignori, se magis contrario pigneraticio obligavit iudicio, quam quicquam dominis nocet, cum serviana etiam actio declarat evidenter iure pignoris teneri non posse, nisi quae obligantis in bonis fuerint, et per alium alienam rem invito domino pignori obligari non posse certissimum est. * diocl. et maxim.
She who gives in pledge to her creditor an estate which she has transferred from herself to her sons by title of donation has bound herself rather by the contrary pigneratician action than does she do any harm to the owners, since the Servian action also clearly declares that things cannot be held by the right of pledge unless they have been in the goods of the obligor, and it is most certain that through another a thing belonging to someone else cannot be obligated in pledge with the owner unwilling. * diocl. et maxim.
Nexum non facit praediorum nisi persona, quae iure potuit obligare. per servum aut procuratorem colonum vel actorem seu conductorem praeiudicium possessioni invito vel inscio domino imponi non posse et iure et legum auctoritatibus decantatur. * honor.
A bond (nexum) upon estates is not made except by a person who could by law obligate. Through a slave or a procurator, a colonus, or an actor or conductor, prejudice to possession cannot be imposed upon an owner who is unwilling or unaware; and this is often proclaimed both by law and by the authorities of the laws. * honor.
Nomen quoque debitoris pignerari et generaliter et specialiter posse pridem placuit. quare si debitor is satis non facit, cui tu credidisti, ille, cuius nomen tibi pignori datum est, nisi ei cui debuit solvit nondum certior a te de obligatione tua factus, utilibus actionibus satis tibi facere usque ad id, quod tibi deberi a creditore eius probaveris, compelletur, quatenus tamen ipse debet. * alex.
It has long been agreed that the “name” of a debtor can be pledged both generally and specially. Wherefore, if the debtor to whom you extended credit does not furnish surety, he whose name has been given to you in pledge—unless he has paid the one to whom he owed before being made aware by you of your obligation—will be compelled by useful actions to make satisfaction to you up to that amount which you shall have proved to be owed to you by his creditor, in so far, however, as he himself owes. * alex.
Qui filios vestros vel liberos homines pro pecunia quam vobis credebat pignoris titulo accepit, dissimulatione iuris se circumvenit, cum sit manifestum obligationem pignoris non consistere nisi in his, quae quis de bonis suis facit obnoxia. * diocl. et maxim.
He who accepted your sons or free men under the title of pledge for the money which he was lending (crediting) to you, by a legal pretense has overreached himself, since it is manifest that an obligation of pledge does not subsist except in those things which one makes liable from his own goods. * diocletian and maximian.
Si quis in cuiuscumque contractus instrumento ea verba posuerit: " fide et periculo rerum ad me pertinentium" vel " per earum exactionem satisfieri tibi permitto", sufficere ea verba ad rerum tam earum quas in praesenti debitor habet quam futurarum hypothecam, nec ex prioribus sanctionibus minus habere speciali hypothecae memoria videri, cum sit iustum voluntates contrahentium magis quam verborum conceptionem inspicere. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. iii id. dec.
If anyone in the instrument of any contract has inserted these words: "in good faith and at the risk of the things pertaining to me" or "I permit you to be satisfied through their exaction," those words suffice for a hypothec of the things both that the debtor presently has and of future ones; nor, in comparison with prior sanctions, should it seem to have a lesser memorial of a special hypothec, since it is just to consider the wills of the contracting parties rather than the conception of the words. * Justinian Augustus to Mena, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 528, the 3rd day before the Ides of December
Super qua generali hypotheca illud quoque ad conservandam contrahentium voluntatem sancimus, ut et, si " res suas" supponere debitor dixerit, non adiecto" tam praesentes quam futuras", ius tamen generalis hypothecae etiam ad futuras res producatur. <a 528 d. iii id. dec. constantinopoli dn. iustiniano a. pp. ii cons.>
Concerning which general hypothec we also sanction this, for the conserving of the will of the contracting parties: that even if the debtor shall have said that he is putting under pledge " his own things", without adding " both present and future", nevertheless the right of general hypothec is extended also to future things. <a 528, on the 3rd day before the Ides of December, at Constantinople, under our lord Justinian, Augustus, perpetual consul for the 2nd time.>
Si decreto praetoris, qui de fideicommisso ius dixit, in possessionem fundi hereditarii fideicommissi condicionalis servandi gratia prius inducti estis, quam adversarius vester in causa iudicati eiusdem fundi pignus occupavit iussu eius, qui iure sententiam exsequebatur, tempore potiores estis. nam cum de pignore utraque pars contendat, praevalet iure, qui praevenit tempore. * ant.
If by decree of the praetor, who gave judgment concerning a fideicommissum, you were first put into possession of the hereditary estate for the sake of preserving a conditional fideicommissum, before your adversary, in an action on a judgment, occupied a pledge over the same estate by the order of him who was lawfully executing the sentence, you are superior in priority by time. For when both parties contend over a pledge, he prevails in right who anticipates in time. * Antoninus.
Cum rem publicam heliopolitanorum propter emolumentum sententiae in rerum tam heredis quam hereditariarum possessionem missam esse proponas, intellegis, quamvis pater tuus cum sossiano contraxerit, tamen, si personali actione eum habuit obligatum, praeponi rem publicam iure pignoris, quae ex auctoritate eius qui iubere potuit servandi iudicati causa occupavit. * ant. a. silvano.
Since you set forth that the commonwealth of the Heliopolitans, for the emolument of the judgment, has been put in possession of the assets, both of the heir and of the hereditary estate, you understand that, although your father contracted with Sossianus, nevertheless, if he held him obligated by a personal action, the commonwealth is to be preferred by the right of pledge, which, by the authority of him who was able to order it, seized for the purpose of preserving the judgment. * Antoninus to Silvanus.
Si generaliter bona sint obligata et postea res alii specialiter pignori dentur, quoniam ex generali obligatione potior habetur creditor qui ante contraxit, si ab illo tu comparasti, non oportet te ab eo qui postea credidit inquietari. * valer. et gallien.
If goods have been encumbered generally and afterward a thing is given in pledge specially to another, since by the general obligation the creditor who contracted earlier is held to be the superior, if you purchased from him, you ought not to be troubled by the one who later gave credit. * Valerian and Gallienus.
Licet isdem pignoribus multis creditoribus diversis temporibus datis priores habeantur potiores, tamen eum, cuius pecunia praedium comparatum probatur, quod ei pignori esse specialiter statim convenit, omnibus anteferri iuris auctoritate declaratur. * diocl. et maxim.
Although with the same pledges, given to many creditors at diverse times, the earlier are held superior, nevertheless the one by whose money it is proven that the praedium was purchased—since it is agreed at once that it is specifically in pledge to him—is declared by the authority of law to be preferred before all. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Diversis temporibus eadem re duobus iure pignoris obligata eum, qui prior data mutua pecunia pignus accepit, potiorem haberi certi ac manifesti iuris est, nec alias secundum distrahendi potestatem huius pignoris consequi, nisi superiori creditori debita fuerit soluta quantitas. * diocl. et maxim.
At different times the same thing having been bound to two persons by right of pledge, it is a matter of certain and manifest law that he who first, after the loaned money was given, received the pledge is to be preferred; nor can the second otherwise obtain the power of selling this pledge, unless the amount owed to the prior creditor has been paid. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum tibi pro dote quam acceperat res maritus obligavit, eo mortuo hi, quibus easdem pignori dederat, non offerentes debitum nulla possunt persequi ratione. nam chirographarios creditores nec in rem nec in personam eos, qui debitori non probantur successisse, ulla ratione convenire posse manifestum est. * diocl.
Since the husband, for the dowry which he had received, obligated property to you, upon his death those to whom he had given those same things in pledge, not tendering the debt, can in no way pursue the matter. For it is manifest that chirographic creditors can by no means proceed either in rem or in personam against those who are not proved to have succeeded to the debtor. * diocl.
Scripturas, quae saepe adsolent a quibusdam secrete fieri, intervenientibus amicis nec ne, transigendi vel paciscendi seu fenerandi vel societatis coeundae gratia seu de aliis quibuscumque causis vel contractibus conficiuntur, quae idiochira graece appellantur, sive tota series eorum manu contrahentium vel notarii aut alterius cuiuslibet scripta fuerit, ipsorum tamen habeant subscriptiones, sive testibus adhibitis sive non, licet condicionales sint, quos vulgo tabularios appellant, sive non, quasi publice scriptas, si personalis actio exerceatur, s uum robur habere decernimus. * leo a. erythrio pp. * <a 472 d. k. iul. constantinopoli marciano cons.>
Writings which are often accustomed to be made privately by some persons, whether friends intervene or not, drawn up for the sake of settling or making a pact, or of lending at interest, or of entering into a partnership, or concerning any other whatsoever causes or contracts—these, which in Greek are called idiochyra—whether the entire series has been written by the hand of the contracting parties, or of a notary, or of any other person whatsoever, provided that they bear their signatures; whether witnesses have been employed or not; even if they are conditional (which in the vernacular they call “tabularii”), or not—we decree that, as if publicly written, they shall have their own force, if a personal action is brought. * Leo Augustus to Erythrius, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 472 on the Kalends of July at Constantinople, Marcianus consul.>
Sin autem ius pignoris vel hypothecae ex huiusmodi instrumentis vindicare quis sibi contenderit, eum qui instrumentis publice confectis nititur praeponi, etiamsi posterior dies his contineatur, nisi forte probatae atque integrae opinionis trium vel amplius virorum subscriptiones isdem idiochiris contineantur: tunc enim quasi publice confecta accipiuntur. <a 472 d. k. iul. constantinopoli marciano cons.>
But if someone should endeavor to vindicate for himself a right of pledge or hypothec from instruments of this sort, the one who relies on instruments publicly executed is to be preferred, even if a later date is contained in these, unless perhaps the same idiochira contain the subscriptions of three or more men of approved and unimpaired reputation: for then they are received as if publicly executed. <a 472 d. k. iul. constantinopoli marciano cons.>
Adsiduis aditionibus mulierum inquietati sumus, per quas suas dotes deperditas esse lugebant et ab anterioribus creditoribus substantias maritorum detentas. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. v k. dec.
We have been disquieted by the assiduous approaches of women, through which they were lamenting that their dowries had been lost and that the estates of their husbands were being detained by prior creditors. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 531 on the 5th day before the Kalends of December.
Nos itaque ad antiquas leges perspeximus in personalibus actionibus rei uxoriae actioni, quam in praesenti sustulimus, magnam praerogativam praestantes, ut contra omnes paene personales actiones habeat privilegia et creditores alios antecedat, licet fuerant anteriores. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
Therefore we have looked back to the ancient laws, granting in personal actions a great prerogative to the uxorial action (rei uxoriae), which we have now abolished, so that it may have privileges against almost all personal actions and may precede other creditors, although they were earlier. <a 531 on the 5th day before the kalends of december at constantinople after the consulship of lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men >
Et haec cum in personalibus statuerant actionibus, si hypothecam respiciebant, ilico iustitiae vigorem relaxabant et senioribus hypothecis novas mulieris hypothecas, si habebat actiones, expellebant, nec ad fragilitatem muliebrem respicientes nec quod et corpore et substantia et omni vita sua marito fungitur, cum paene mulieribus tota substantia in dote constituta est. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
And although they had established these things in personal actions, if they had regard to a hypothec, they straightway relaxed the vigor of justice and by senior hypothecs they expelled the woman’s new hypothecs, if she had actions—having no regard to female fragility nor to the fact that with her body and substance and her whole life she serves her husband, since for women almost the whole substance is constituted in the dowry. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
Oportebat enim disponi maritos creditoribus suis ex sua substantia satisfacere, non dote muliebri, quam ad suos victus suasque alimonias mulier possidet, vel a semet ipsa data vel pro ea ab alio. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
For it ought to be provided that husbands satisfy their creditors out of their own substance, not from the woman’s dowry, which the woman possesses for her own living and her own alimonies, whether given by herself or by another on her behalf. <a 531 on the fifth day before the Kalends of December at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men. >
( 1) ad haec omnia respicientes et reminiscentes, quod et alias duas constitutiones fecimus pro dotibus mulieribus subvenientes, et omnia in unum colligentes sancimus ex stipulatu actionem, quam mulieribus iam pro dote instituendam dedimus cuique etiam tacitam donavimus inesse hypothecam, potiora iura contra omnes habere mariti creditores. licet anterioris sint temporis privilegio vallati. <a 531 d. v k. dec.
( 1) Looking to and remembering all these things, that we have also made two other constitutions aiding women with respect to dowries, and gathering everything into one, we sanction that the action ex stipulatu, which we have already allowed women to institute for the dowry and to each of whom we have also granted that a tacit hypothec inheres, have stronger rights against all the husband’s creditors, although they are fortified by the privilege of an earlier time. <a 531 d. v k. dec.
Cum enim in personalibus actionibus secundum quod diximus tali privilegio utebatur res uxoria, quapropter non et in hypothecam hoc mulieri et nunc indulgemus beneficium, licet res dotales vel ex his aliae comparatae non extent, sed quocumque modo vel dissipatae vel consumptae sunt, si tamen re ipsa fuerint parti mariti datae? quis enim eas non miseretur propter obsequia, quae maritis praestant , propter partus periculum et ipsam liberorum creationem, pro qua multa nostris legibus inventa sunt privilegia? <a 531 d. v k. dec.
For since, in personal actions, as we have said, the uxorial property enjoyed such a privilege, why therefore do we not also grant this benefit to the woman in hypothec even now, although the dotal things, or others acquired from them, do not exist, but in whatever way have been either dissipated or consumed, if nevertheless they have in fact been given to the husband's side? For who would not pity them on account of the services which they render to their husbands , on account of the danger of parturition and the very creation of children, for which many privileges have been devised by our laws? <a 531 d. v k. dec.
Ideo quod antiquitas quidem dare incepit, ad effectum autem non pertulit, nos pleno legis articulo consumavimus et, sive liberos habet mulier sive ab initio non habuit sive progenitos amisit, hoc ei privilegium indulgemus. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
Therefore, what antiquity indeed began to grant but did not carry through to effect, we have consummated with a full article of law; and, whether the woman has children, or from the beginning did not have them, or has lost those she begot, we grant this privilege to her. <a 531, on the 5th day before the Kalends of December, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Exceptis videlicet contra novercas anterioris matrimonii filiis, quibus pro dote matris suae iam quidem dedimus hypothecas contra paternas res vel eius creditores, in praesenti autem similem praerogativam servamus, ne, quod posteriori datum est uxori, hoc anteriori denegetur, sed sic maneat eis ius incorruptum, quasi adhuc vivente matre eorum: duabus enim dotibus ab eadem substantia debitis es tempore praerogativam manere volumus. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
Except, namely, with respect to stepmothers, for the sons of the prior marriage, to whom we have already granted hypothecs for their mother’s dowry against the paternal assets or his creditors; and at present we likewise preserve a similar prerogative, lest that which has been given to the later wife be denied to the earlier, but let their right remain uncorrupted for them, as if their mother were still living: for when two dowries are owed from the same estate, we wish the prerogative to remain according to the order of time. <a 531 d. v k. dec. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. >
( 2) haec autem tantum ad dotem sancimus, non ad ante nuptias donationem, quam suo tempori servire disponimus et habere inter creditores sui temporis ordinem. non enim pro lucro fovemus mulieres, sed ne damnum patiantur suisque rebus defraudentur curamus. <a 531 d. v k. dec.
( 2) however, we sanction these things only with respect to the dowry, not with respect to the donation before marriage, which we dispose to serve its own time and to have its order among the creditors of its time. For we do not favor women for profit, but we take care that they do not suffer loss and be defrauded of their own goods. <a 531 d. v k. dec.
Cum pro parte, in cuius potestate non eras, pecuniam fisco intuleris, et iure privilegio eius successisti et eius locum cui pecuniam numerasti consecutus es, nec hi creditores patris tui, qui personalem habuerunt actionem vel cum eo postea sub pignoribus contraxerunt, pignora tua te ignorante distrahendo iuri tuo aliquid derogaverunt. * ant. a. felici.
When, on behalf of a party in whose power you were not, you have paid money into the fisc, and by right you have succeeded to his privilege and have obtained the position of the one to whom you counted out the money, neither have those creditors of your father, who had a personal action or who later contracted with him under pledges, by selling your pledges with you being unaware, derogated anything from your right. * ant. a. felici.
Si potiores creditores pecunia tua dimissi sunt, quibus obligata fuit possessio, quam emisse te dicis, ita ut pretium perveniret ad eosdem priores creditores, in ius eorum successisti et contra eos, qui infirmiores illis fuerunt, iusta defensione te tueri potes. * alex. a. valenti.
If priority creditors have been discharged by your money, to whom the possession which you say you bought had been pledged, in such a way that the price reached those same prior creditors, you have succeeded into their right, and against those who were weaker than them you can protect yourself with a just defense. * Alexander Augustus to Valentius.
Cum autem debitor ipsi priori creditori eadem pignora in solutum dederit vel vendiderit, non magis tibi persecutio adempta est, quam si aliis easdem res debitor venumdedisset: sed ita persequens res obligatas audieris, si, quod eidem possessori propter praecedentis contractus auctoritatem debitum est, obtuleris. <a 230 pp. v id. mai. agricola et clemente conss.>
However, when the debtor has given to that prior creditor the same pledges in payment or has sold them, your right of pursuit has not been taken away any more than if the debtor had sold the same things to others; but you will be heard while pursuing the encumbered things, if you offer what is owed to that same possessor by reason of the priority of the preceding contract. <a 230 on the fifth day before the Ides of May (May 11), Agricola and Clemens, consuls.>
Si praetorium pignus quicumque iudices dandum alicui perspexerint, non solum super rebus mobilibus et immobilibus et se moventibus, sed etiam super actionibus quae debitori competunt praecipimus hoc eis licere decernere. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 529 d. k. april.
If whatever judges have discerned that a praetorian pledge should be given to someone, we direct that it is permitted to them to decree this not only over movable and immovable things and things that move themselves, but also over the actions (claims) which belong to the debtor. * Justinian to Mena, praetorian prefect. * <a 529 on the Kalends of April.
Veteris iuris dubitationem decidentes ad duplum genus hypothecarum respeximus, unum quidem, quod ex conventionibus et pactis hominum nascitur, aliud, quod a iudicibus datur et praetorium nuncupatur. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. k. aug.
Resolving the doubt of the ancient law, we have had regard to a twofold kind of hypothecs: one indeed which arises from the conventions and pacts of men, the other which is given by judges and is called praetorian. * Justinian Augustus to Julianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 530, on the Kalends of August.
Et cum invenimus in conventionalibus pignoribus vel hypothecis non solum tenentem creditorem adiuvari, sed etiam si ab eo cadat, sive sua culpa sive non sive fortuito casu, humanius esse perspeximus et in praetorio pignore dare recuperationem creditori, quocumque modo possessionem amittat, sive culpa sua sive non sive fortuito casu. <a 530 d. k. aug. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And since we find in conventional pledges or hypothecs not only that the creditor in possession is aided, but even if he should fall from it, whether by his own fault or not, or by fortuitous chance, we have perceived it to be more humane also in the praetorian pledge to grant recovery to the creditor, in whatever way he may lose possession, whether by his own fault or not, or by fortuitous chance. <a 530 d. k. aug. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Res ob causam iudicati eius iussu, cui ius iubendi fuit, pignoris iure teneri ac distrahi posse saepe rescriptum est. nam in vicem iustae obligationis succedit ex causa contractus auctoritas iubentis. * ant.
It has often been rescripted that property, on account of a judgment-debt, at the order of him who had the right to order, can be held by the right of pledge and be sold. For in the stead of a just obligation there succeeds, from the cause of the contract, the authority of the one commanding. * ant.
Et si alio emptore non existente, vel existente quidem, sed non dignum pretium offerente is cui iudicatus satis non fecit ad licitationem secundum constituta fuerit admissus, cuiuslibet alterius vice ex officio emere debet. <a 223 pp. vi k. mai. maximo ii et aeliano conss.>
And if no other purchaser exists, or indeed one does exist but offers an unworthy price, the person to whom the judgment-debtor has not made satisfaction, having been admitted to the licitation according to the constitutions, ought to buy ex officio in the stead of any other. <a 223, 6 days before the Kalends of May, in the consulship of Maximus (2) and Aelianus.>
In causa iudicati pignora ex auctoritate praesidis capta potius distrahi quam iure dominii possideri consuerunt. si tamen per calliditatem condemnati emptor inveniri non potest, tunc auctoritate principis dominium creditori addici solet. * gord.
In the case of a judgment, pledges seized by the authority of the governor (praeses) are accustomed rather to be put up for sale than to be held by right of ownership. If, however, through the cleverness of the condemned a buyer cannot be found, then by the authority of the princeps ownership is wont to be adjudged to the creditor. * gord.
Etiam id quod pignori obligatum est a creditore pignori obstringi posse iam dudum placuit, scilicet ut sequenti creditori utilis actio detur tamdiuque eum is qui ius repraesentat tueatur, quamdiu in causa pignoris manet eius qui dedit. * gord. a. lamponi.
Even that which has been obligated in pledge may, it has long been approved, be bound in pledge by the creditor, namely, that a useful action be given to the subsequent creditor, and that he be protected by the one who represents the right, so long as it remains in the cause of pledge of the one who gave it. * Gordian Augustus to Lamponius.
Sed si vos usum fructum possessionis tantummodo pignori dedistis, isque qui accepit alii eam possessionem, cuius usum fructum nexum habebat, sine vestra voluntate pigneravit, creditor eius in id, quo pignoris vinculum non constitit, distrahens dominio vos privare nequivit. <a 238 pp. id. sept. pio et pontiano conss.>
But if you gave only the usufruct of the possession in pledge, and he who received it, without your will, pledged to another that possession of which he had the nexus of usufruct, his creditor, selling in respect to that for which the bond of the pledge had not been constituted, could not deprive you of dominion. <in the year 238, on the day before the Ides of September, under the consuls Pius and Pontianus.>
Quod si non fuit vestro creditori usus fructus, sed ipsa possessio pignerata, et ante exsolutam a domino pecuniam creditor secundus pignus acceptum vendidit, non posse venditionem post soluta pecunia rescindi divorum principum placitis continetur. <a 238 pp. id. sept. pio et pontiano conss.>
But if it was not the usufruct that belonged to your creditor, but the possession itself was pledged, and before the money was paid by the owner a second creditor sold the pledge he had received, it is contained in the ordinances of the deified princes that the sale cannot be rescinded after the money has been paid. <a 238 pp. id. sept. pio et pontiano conss.>
Si creditor possessionem, quae a parentibus tuis pignoris iure fuerat obligata, non vendidit, sed alii creditori pignori dedit, examinata fide veri poteris eam soluto eo, quod ex hac causa creditori debetur, intercessu praesidis provinciae recuperare. * diocl. et maxim.
If the creditor did not sell the possession which had been obligated by the right of pledge by your parents, but pledged it to another creditor, upon examination of the truth you will be able to recover it, by the intercession of the governor of the province, once what is owed to the creditor on this account has been paid. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum pignoris titulo mancipia vos obligasse pro mutua quam accepistis pecunia proponatis, horum mancipiorum operis, quas creditor accepit vel quas percipere potuit, in usuras computatis et post in sortem, extenuato debito residuum offerentibus vel, si non accipiat, consignatum deponentibus mancipia vobis praeses provinciae restitui iubebit. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you set forth that you bound slaves to yourselves under the title of pledge for the loaned money which you received, the labors of these slaves, which the creditor received or could have received, being computed into interest and afterwards into the principal, with the debt diminished you offering the remainder, or, if he does not accept it, depositing the consigned sum, the governor of the province will order the slaves to be restored to you. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si te manumissum et in libertate moratum sciente ea, cui pignoris nomine obligatus diceris, praesidi probaveris, ex consensu creditricis remissam pignoris obligationem apparebit, et per hoc iure te manumissum nec ab herede debitricis in servitutem peti posse certum est. * sev. et ant.
If you prove to the governor that you were manumitted and remained in liberty with the knowledge of the woman to whom you are said to be obligated under the name of pledge, it will appear that by the creditoress’s consent the obligation of the pledge was remitted, and by this right it is certain that you, manumitted, cannot be claimed into slavery even by the heir of the debtor-woman. * Severus and Antoninus.
Si probaveris te fundum mercatum possessionemque eius tibi traditam sciente et consentiente ea, quae sibi eum a venditore obligatum dicit, eam exceptione removebis. nam obligatio pignoris consensu et contrahitur et dissolvitur. * ant.
If you prove that you bought the estate and that possession of it was delivered to you with the knowledge and consent of the woman who says that it was obligated to her by the seller, you will remove her by an exception. For the obligation of a pledge is by consent both contracted and dissolved. * ant.
Cum te a debitore mercatum proponas eam rem, quae alii pignerata erat, si sciente eo ac pignus suum remittente eam mercatus es, cum eius consensu nexus pignoris evanuerit, si non nova voluntas intercessit, quae denuo obligationem pignoris constitueret, ea res veluti obstricta non potest vindicari. * gord. a. aquilino.
When you, proposing to buy from your debtor that thing which had been pledged to another, did purchase it with his knowledge and with him remitting his pledge, since by his consent the nexus of the pledge has vanished, unless a new will intervened which would establish anew the obligation of the pledge, that thing cannot be vindicated as if encumbered. * Gordian Augustus to Aquilinus.
Solita providentia utimur etiam de pignoribus vel hypothecis rerum, quae quibusdam creditoribus suppositae postea a debitoribus venduntur vel alio modo transferuntur creditore suum consensum contractui praebente et quodam legitimo postea modo ad priorem dominum revertuntur. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 532 d. xv k. nov.
We employ our customary providence also concerning pledges or hypothecs of things, which, having been subjected to certain creditors, are afterwards sold by the debtors or transferred in another way, the creditor providing his own consent to the contract, and later in some legitimate manner they revert to the prior owner. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 532, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November
In hoc etenim casu diversae sententiae legum prudentibus habitae sunt, quibusdam dicentibus ius pignoris creditori renovari propter verbum " futurarum rerum", quod in generalibus hypothecis poni solitum est, aliis penitus extingui. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
For in this case diverse opinions have been held by the jurists, some saying that the creditor’s right of pledge is renewed on account of the phrase "futurarum rerum," which is accustomed to be inserted in general hypothecs, others that it is utterly extinguished. <a 532 on the 15th day before the Kalends of November (October 18), at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the second year.>
Nobis autem visum est eum, qui semel consensit alienationi hypothecae et hoc modo suum ius respuit, indignum esse eandem rem utpote ab initio ei suppositam vindicare vel tenentem inquietare. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
But it has seemed to us that he who once consented to the alienation of the hypothec and in this way rejected his own right is unworthy to vindicate the same thing—as if it had from the beginning been subjected to him—or to disturb the holder. <in the year 532, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, in the second year.>
Quod si pactum inter te eumque, qui postea dominus fundi constitutus novam obligationem susceperat, intercessit, ut idem fundus tibi pignoris nomine teneatur, quamvis personali actione expertus feceris condemnationem, pignoris tamen habes persecutionem. <a 239 pp. id. mart. gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
But if a pact intervened between you and him who later, having been constituted owner of the estate, had undertaken a new obligation, that the same estate be held by you under the name of pledge, although by a personal action you have obtained a condemnation, nevertheless you have the pursuit of the pledge. <a 239, on the day before the Ides of March, in the consulship of Gordianus Augustus and Aviola.>
Ac si in possessione fueris constitutus, nisi ea quoque pecunia tibi a debitore reddatur vel offeratur, quae sine pignore debetur, eam restituere propter exceptionem doli mali non cogeris. iure enim contendis debitores eam solam pecuniam, cuius nomine pignora obligaverunt, offerentes audiri non oportere, nisi pro illa etiam satisfecerint, quam mutuam simpliciter acceperint. <a 239 pp. id. mart.
And if you have been established in possession, unless that money also is returned or offered to you by the debtor which is owed without a pledge, you are not compelled to restore it on account of the exception of malicious fraud. For by right you contend that debtors, offering only that money for which they bound the pledges, ought not to be heard, unless they have also satisfied in regard to that which they received by simple loan. <a 239 pp. id. mart.
Creditor hypothecas sive pignus cum proscribit, notum debitori facere, si bona fide rem gerit, et quando licet testato dicere debet. si quid itaque per fraudem in pignore villae venditae commissum probare potes, ut inferatur actio, quae eo nomine competit, adi eum cuius de ea re notio est. * alex.
When a creditor proscribes hypothecs or a pledge, he ought to make it known to the debtor, if he conducts the matter in good faith, and, when it is permitted, he ought to declare it under attestation. If therefore you can prove that anything was committed by fraud in the pledge of the villa that was sold, so that the action which is competent under that head may be brought, approach him who has cognizance of that matter. * alexander.
Si residuum debiti paratus es solvere, praeses provinciae dabit arbitrum, apud quem, quantum sit quod superest ex debito, examinabitur: et sive ad iudicem venire diversa pars cessaverit sive oblato superfluo ad venditionem prosiluerit, improba alienatio proprietatis tuae ius non auferet. * alex. a. sossiano.
If you are prepared to pay the residuum of the debt, the governor of the province will appoint an arbiter, before whom it will be examined how much there is that remains from the debt; and whether the adverse party has failed to come to the judge or has sprung to a sale upon a surplus being offered, a wrongful alienation of your property will not take away your right. * Alexander Augustus to Sossianus.
Si cessante solutione creditor non reluctante lege contractus ea quae pignori sibi nexa erant distraxit, revocari venditionem iniquum est, cum, si quid in ea re fraudulenter fecerit, non emptor a te, sed creditor conveniendus sit. * gord. a. caro.
If, payment being in default, the creditor, the law of the contract not opposing, has sold the things that were bound to him in pledge, it is unjust to revoke the sale, since, if he has done anything fraudulent in that matter, it is not the purchaser who must be sued by you, but the creditor. * Gordian Augustus to Carus.
Si prius, quam distraheretur pignorata possessio, pecuniam creditori obtulisti, eoque non accipiente contestatione facta eam deposuisti et hodieque in eadem causa permanet, pignoris distractio non valet. quod si prius, quam offerres, legem venditionis exercuit, quod iure subsistit revocari non debet. * gord.
If, before the pledged possession was sold, you offered the money to the creditor, and he, not accepting it, after a contestation was made you deposited it, and to this day it remains in the same condition, the sale of the pledge is not valid. But if, before you made the offer, he exercised the law of sale, that which subsists by right ought not to be revoked. * gord.
Quae specialiter vobis obligata sunt, debitoribus detractantibus solutionem bona fide debetis et sollemniter vendere: ita enim parebit, an ex pretio pignoris debito satisfieri potest. quod si quid deerit, non prohibemini etiam cetera bona iure conventionis consequi. * diocl.
Those things which are specially pledged to you, when the debtors refuse payment, you ought in good faith and solemnly to sell: for thus it will appear whether from the price of the pledge the debt can be satisfied. But if anything is lacking, you are not prohibited from also pursuing the other goods by the right of the convention. * diocl.
Et qui sub imagine alterius personae, quam supposuerat, iugiter tenet, cum sibi negotium gerat, alienasse non videtur. iure enim pignoris obligatum praedium neque si per subiectam personam creditor comparaverit neque si sibi addixerit, debitori adfert praeiudicium, sed in eadem causa permanet, in qua fuit ante huiusmodi collusionem. * diocl.
And he who, under the image (guise) of another person whom he had put forward, continually holds, since he conducts the business for himself, is not considered to have alienated. For a praedium encumbered by the right of pledge, neither if the creditor has acquired it through an interposed person nor if he has adjudged it to himself, brings prejudice to the debtor, but remains in the same condition in which it was before such collusion. * diocl.
Si igitur poteris evidentibus probationibus monstrare creditorem per suppositam imaginarii emptoris personam semper possessionem tenuisse nec vendita bona fide praedia postea sinceriter comparasse, potes oblata pecunia cum usuris ad restitutionem creditorem compellere. <a 290 pp. iii non. oct.
If therefore you can demonstrate by evident proofs that the creditor, through the person of a supposed imaginary buyer, has always held possession and did not afterwards genuinely purchase the estates sold, in good faith, you can, with the money tendered together with interest, compel the creditor to restitution. <a 290 pp. 3 non. oct.
Secundum placiti fidem, si nihil convenit specialiter, pignoribus a creditore maiore quam ei debebatur pretio distractis, licet ex eo fundus comparatus sit, non super hoc in rem, sed in personam, id est pigneraticia, de superfluo competit actio. * diocl. et maxim.
According to the faith of the pact, if nothing is agreed specifically, when the pledges have been sold off by the creditor at a price greater than was owed to him, even if from that a landed estate has been purchased, not on this does an action in rem lie, but an action in personam, that is, the pigneratic action, is competent for the surplus. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si sunt, qui emere praedia tibi obligata velint, non impediuntur scriptura testamenti, qua complexus est debitor nulla a se praedia venumdari et poenam addidit , ut fisci fierent. nec enim potuisse eum huiusmodi lege ius creditoris facere deterius manifestum est. * sev.
If there are those who wish to buy estates pledged to you, they are not impeded by the testamentary writing, in which the debtor included that no estates were to be sold by himself and added a penalty , that they should become property of the fisc. For it is manifest that he could not by a law of this kind make the creditor’s right worse. * sev.
Debitoris denuntiatio, qui creditori suo, ne sibi rem pignori obligatam distrahat, vel his qui ab eo volunt comparare denuntiat, ita demum efficax est, si universum tam sortis quam usurarum offerat debitum creditori eoque non accipiente idonea fide probationis ita ut oportet depositum ostendat. * gord. a. nepoti.
The debtor’s denuntiation, by which he gives notice to his creditor not to sell the thing bound in pledge to him, or gives notice to those who wish to acquire it by purchase from him, is effective only if he offers to the creditor the entire debt, both principal and interest, and, if he does not accept it, shows by adequate assurance of proof that a deposit has been made as is proper. * Gordian, Augustus, to Nepos.
Nam si vel modicum de sorte vel usuris in debito perseveret, distractio rei obligatae non potest impediri, neque ea ratione emptor, tametsi sciat interpositam a debitore creditori denuntiationem, mala fide fit possessor. <a 239 pp. iii non. aug.
For if even a modicum of the principal or the interest persists in the debt, the sale (distraint) of the encumbered property cannot be impeded, nor for that reason does the buyer, even if he knows that a notice has been interposed by the debtor to the creditor, become a possessor in bad faith. <a 239 pp. iii non. aug.
Quod si de bonis creditoris condemnati solvi pecunia non potuerit et probatum fuerit emptorem mala fide emisse, offerenti pecuniam cum usuris, quanti fundus veniit, restituere tibi fundum cum fructibus malae fidei emptorem iubebit. <a 222 pp. k. sept. alexandro a. cons.>
But if from the goods of a creditor who has been condemned the money cannot be paid, and it has been proved that the purchaser bought in bad faith, then, upon one offering the money with interest, in the amount for which the estate was sold, he will order the bad‑faith purchaser to restore to you the estate with its fruits. <in 222, on the day before the Kalends of September, in the consulship of Alexander Augustus.>
Si uxor tua praesidi probaverit, cum aureos triginta deberet, servos suos amplioris pretii per gratiam aureis viginti creditorem venumdedisse eumque solvendo non fuisse, iubebit emptores recepto pretio restituere servos. * alex. a. claudio.
If your wife shall have proved to the governor that, when she owed thirty aurei, she, as a favor, sold to her creditor for twenty aurei her slaves of greater value, and that he was not solvent, he will order the purchasers, upon the price being received back, to restore the slaves. * Alexander Augustus to Claudius.
Cum contra bonam fidem venditionem obligatae possessionis a creditore factam adleges, non observatis, quae in distrahendis pignoribus celebrari consueverunt, adito praeside provinciae experire actione competenti non tantum adversus creditorem, verum etiam adversus possessorem, si fraudem eum participasse cum creditore potueris docere, ut revocatis, quae mala fide gesta constiterit, et fructuum ratio et damni quod inrogatum apparuerit haberi possit. * gord. a. eudemo.
When you allege, against good faith, a sale of a pledged possession made by the creditor, without the observance of the procedures that are accustomed to be celebrated in the selling-off of pledges, apply to the provincial governor and pursue with a competent action not only against the creditor but also against the possessor, if you can show that he participated in the fraud with the creditor, so that, once the acts which are established to have been done in bad faith are revoked, both an account of the fruits and of the damage which shall appear to have been inflicted may be had. * gordian augustus to eudemus.
Si reddita debita quantitate vel rebus in solutum datis sive distractis compensato pretio satis ei contra quem supplicas factum adito praeside probaveris, vel si quod residuum debetur obtuleris ac, si non acceperit, deposueris consignatum, restitui tibi res pacto pignoris obligatas providebit, cum etiam edicto perpetuo, actione proposita pecunia soluta creditori vel si per eum factum sit, quominus solveretur, ad reddenda quae pignoris acceperat iure eum satis evidenter urgueri manifestum sit. * diocl. et maxim.
If you prove before the governor, when you approach him, that the due amount has been paid, or that by things given in satisfaction, or by the goods having been sold with the price set off, sufficient performance has been rendered to him against whom you petition; or if you have offered whatever remainder is owed and, if he does not accept it, have deposited it consigned under seal, he will see to it that the things bound by the pledge-agreement are restored to you, since it is evident enough under the Perpetual Edict, when an action is brought, that, the money having been paid to the creditor—or if it was by his doing that it was not paid—he is legally pressed to return what he had received by way of pledge. * diocl. et maxim.
Actio quidem personalis inter heredes pro singulis portionibus quaesita scinditur, pignoris autem iure multis obligatis rebus, quas diversi possident, cum eius vindicatio non personam obliget, sed rem sequitur, qui possident tenentes non pro modo singularum substantiae conveniuntur, sed in solidum, ut vel totum debitum reddant vel eo quod detinent cedant. * diocl. et maxim.
A personal action, indeed, brought among heirs for their several portions is split; but by the right of pledge, when many things are obligated which different persons possess, since its vindication does not bind the person but follows the thing, the possessors holding are proceeded against not according to the measure of each individual property, but for the whole (in solidum), so that they either pay the entire debt or cede what they detain. * diocl. et maxim.
Si pecuniam tibi non esse numeratam atque ideo frustra cautionem emissam et pignus datum probaturus es, in rem experiri potes: nam intentio dati pignoris neque redditae pecuniae non aliter tenebit, quam si de fide debiti constiterit. eademque ratione veritas servetur, si te possidente pignus adversarius tuus agere coeperit. * sev.
If you are going to prove that money was not counted out to you and that for that reason the caution was issued in vain and the pledge given, you can proceed in rem: for the intentio that a pledge was given and the money not returned will not hold otherwise than if the validity of the debt has been established. And by the same reasoning let the truth be observed, if, while you are in possession, your adversary begins to sue about the pledge. * sev.
Dominii iure pignora possidere desiderans nomina debitorum, quos in solutione cessare dicis, exprimere et, an sollemnia peregisti, significare debuisti, dummodo scias omnia bona debitoris, qui pignori dedit, ut universa dominio tuo generaliter addicantur, impetrare te non posse. * alex. a. nicolaae.
Desiring to possess pledges by the right of dominion, you ought to have set forth the names of the debtors, whom you say are in default in payment, and to indicate whether you have performed the solemnities, provided that you know that you cannot obtain that all the goods of the debtor who gave in pledge be, as a whole, generally adjudged to your dominion. * Alexander Augustus to Nicolaus.
Vetustissimam observationem, quae nullatenus in ipsis rerum claruit documentis, penitus esse duximus amputandam, immo magis clarioribus remediis corrigendam. igitur in pignoribus, quae iure dominii possidere aliquis cupiebat, proscriptio publica et annus luitionis antiquus introducti sunt, pignus autem publice proscriptum neque vidimus neque nisi tantummodo ex librorum recitatione audivimus. * iust.
we have judged that a most ancient observance, which in no way has become evident in the very documents of the facts, must be entirely amputated—nay rather corrected by clearer remedies. therefore, in pledges, which someone desired to possess by right of dominion, public proscription and the ancient year of redemption were introduced; but we have neither seen a pledge publicly proscribed nor heard of it except only from the recitation of books. * iust.
Sancimus itaque, si quis rem creditori suo pigneraverit, si quidem in pactione cautum est, quemadmodum debet pignus distrahi, sive in tempore sive in aliis conventionibus ea observari, pro quibus inter creditorem et debitorem conventum est. sin autem nulla pactio intercesserit, licentia dabitur feneratori ex denuntiatione vel ex sententia iudiciali post biennium, ex quo attestatio missa est vel sententia prolata est, numerandum eam vendere. <a 530 d. xv k. april.
We ordain, therefore, that if anyone has pledged a thing to his creditor, then, if it has been provided in the pact how the pledge ought to be distrained/sold—whether as to time or in other conventions—those terms are to be observed for which agreement has been made between the creditor and the debtor. But if no pact has intervened, license shall be given to the moneylender, upon denunciation or by judicial sentence, after two years from the time when the attestation was sent or the sentence was pronounced, to sell it for cash. <a 530 d. xv k. april.
Sin vero nemo est, qui comparare eam maluerit, ut necessarium fiat creditori saltem sibi eam iure dominii possidere, in huiusmodi casibus causam esse observandam censemus, ut, sive praesens sit debitor, denuntiatio ei scilicet post biennium mittatur, sive afuerit, provinciale tribunale creditor petat et iudicem certiorare festinet, quatenus ille eum requisierit, certo tempore super hoc ab eo statuendo, ut fiat debitori manifestum per apparationem iudicis, quod a creditore petitum est, et certum tempus statuatur, intra quod et, si fuerit inventus, debet qui pecunias creditas accepit debitum offerre et pignus recuperare. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed there is no one who has preferred to purchase it, so that it becomes necessary that the creditor at least possess it for himself by right of ownership, in such cases we judge the procedure to be observed as follows: whether the debtor is present, let a notice namely be sent to him after a biennium; or, if he is absent, let the creditor petition the provincial tribunal and hasten to inform the judge, to the extent that the judge may require him, with a fixed time on this matter being set by the judge, so that it be made manifest to the debtor, through the judge’s summons, what has been requested by the creditor; and let a definite time be appointed, within which also, if he shall have been found, he who received the loaned moneys ought to tender the debt and recover the pledge. <a 530, March 18, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem nullatenus fuerit inventus, iudex certum tempus definiat, intra quod licentia ei dabitur sese manifestare et offerre pecunias et pignus ab oppigneratione liberare. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, he shall in no way have been found, let the judge define a fixed time, within which leave shall be given him to make himself manifest and to tender the monies and to free the pledge from pignoration. <a 530 on the 15th day before the kalends of april at constantinople, under lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem in tempore statuto vel minime fuerit inventus vel creditam pecuniam totam offerre noluerit, tunc creditor adeat culmen principale et precibus porrectis iure dominii habere eandem rem expetat habeatque ex divino oraculo eam in suo dominio. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, at the appointed time he is either not found at all or is unwilling to offer the whole of the credited money, then let the creditor approach the principal summit and, with petitions proffered, demand to have that same thing by right of dominion, and let him have it by divine oracle in his own ownership. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Et postquam hoc fuerit subsecutum, pietatis intuitu habeat debitor intra biennii tempus in suam rem humanum reversum ex die sacri oraculi numerandum, et liceat ei, creditori qui iam dominus factus est offerre debitum cum usuris et damnis vitio eius creditori illatis, quorum quantitatem creditor debet suo iuramento manifestare, et suum pignus recuperare. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And after this has followed, in view of piety let the debtor have, within the space of two years, a humane reversion to his own property, to be counted from the day of the sacred oracle; and let it be permitted to him to offer to the creditor, who has already been made owner, the debt with interest and the damages brought upon the creditor through his fault, the amount of which the creditor ought to make manifest by his own oath, and to recover his pledge. <a 530 d. the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem minus quidem in debito, amplius autem in pignore fiat, tunc in hoc quod debitum excedit debitori omnia iura integra lege nostra servabuntur, creditoribus quidem feneratoris non suppositum, aliis autem debitoris creditoribus vel ipsi debitori servatum. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, there is less indeed in the debt, but more in the pledge, then, as to that which exceeds the debt, all rights shall be preserved intact to the debtor by our law, not subjected to the creditors of the moneylender, but kept for the other creditors of the debtor or for the debtor himself. <a 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, when Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, were consuls.>
Et ne ex communicatione fiat aliqua difficultas, licentia dabitur creditori seu domino aestimationem superflui debitori vel creditori debitoris cum competenti cautela in eum exponenda offerre. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And so that no difficulty may arise from the joint-interest, permission shall be given to the creditor or owner to offer to the debtor or to the debtor’s creditor an appraisal of the surplus, with appropriate security to be set forth with respect to him. <a 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin vero creditor, postquam iure dominii hoc possideat, vendere hoc maluerit, liceat quidem ei hoc facere, si quid autem superfluum sit, debitori servare. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed the creditor, after he possesses this by right of dominion, should prefer to sell it, let it be permitted to him to do this; but whatever surplus there may be, to preserve for the debtor. <a 530 on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem dubitatio exorta fuerit pro venditione utpote viliore pretio facta, sacramenti religionem creditor praestare compellatur, quod nulla machinatione vel circumscriptione usus est, sed tanti vendidit rem, quanti potuerit venire: et hoc tantummodo reddi, quod ex iuramento superfluum fuerit visum. sin autem ex iureiurando etiam minus habuisse creditor inveniatur, in residuo habeat integram actionem. <a 530 d. xv k. april.
But if, however, a doubt shall have arisen concerning the sale, as having been made at a cheaper price, the creditor shall be compelled to render the religion of an oath, that he used no machination or circumvention, but sold the thing for as much as it could come—namely, as much as it could fetch; and that only that be restored which, from the oath, shall have seemed superfluous. But if from the sworn oath it is found that the creditor has even had less, let him have an entire action for the residue. <a 530 d. xv k. april.
Aestimationem autem pignoris, donec apud creditorem eundemque dominum permaneat, sive amplioris sive minoris quantum ad debitum quantitatis est, iudicialis esse volumus disceptationis, ut, quod iudex super hoc statuerit, hoc in aestimatione pignoris obtineat. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Moreover, we will that the estimation of the pledge, so long as it remains with the creditor and likewise the owner, whether greater or lesser so far as concerns the quantity of the debt, be a matter of judicial adjudication, so that what the judge shall determine on this point shall prevail in the estimation of the pledge. <in the year 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April [March 18], at Constantinople, when Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, were consuls.>
Qui pactus est, nisi intra certum tempus pecuniam quam mutuam accepit solveret, cessurum creditoribus, hypothecae venditionem non contraxit, sed id comprehendit , quod iure suo creditor in adipiscendo pignore habiturus erat. communi itaque iure creditor hypothecam vendere debet. * alex.
He who stipulated that, unless within a certain time he paid the money which he had received as a loan, it would be yielded to the creditors, did not contract a sale of the hypothec, but included , that which by his own right the creditor was going to have in acquiring the pledge. therefore by the common law the creditor ought to sell the hypothec. * alex.
Si fundi nomine, quem vendideras, emptori ab alio mota proprietatis quaestione alterum fundum pro eius evictione pignoris hypothecaeve titulo emptionis instrumentis ea lege dedisti, ut, quem secundo tradideras, si is quem vendideras evictus non fuerit, obtineas, de hoc contra eum qui moverat quaestionem lata sententia emptori parata securitate, circa eum quem obligaveras restituendum conventionis fidem impleri, si negotium integrum est, praeses iubebit. * diocl. et maxim.
If, under the name of the estate which you had sold, when a question of ownership was raised by another against the buyer, you gave another estate, under the title of pledge or hypothec, by the instruments of purchase, on this condition: that you should retain the one you delivered second, if the one you had sold were not evicted; then, judgment having been given on this against the person who raised the question, with security ensured for the buyer, the governor, if the transaction is still intact, will order the good faith of the agreement to be fulfilled as regards restoring the one you had encumbered. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Debitores quidem hereditarii unicuique heredum pro portione hereditaria antiqua lege obligati sunt. sed si eis heredibus omnem pecuniam exsolvisti, quibus nomen patris tui testator in divisione adscripserat, doli mali exceptione adversus alios agentes tueri te potes. * ant.
Hereditary debtors are indeed, by the ancient law, bound to each of the heirs in proportion to the hereditary share. But if you have paid all the money to those heirs to whom, in the division, the testator had assigned the claim against your father, you can protect yourself by the exception of dolus malus against others bringing suit. * ant.
Adversus fratrem tuum quondam tutorem legitimum tutelae iudicio si expertus non es, proposita actione consiste. nec timueris exceptionem pacti, si in eo fraudem dolumque admissum probare potes: nam replicatio doli opposita bonae fidei iudicium facit et commentum fraudis repellit. * ant.
Against your brother, formerly the lawful guardian, if you have not proceeded by a guardianship suit, stand upon the action that has been proposed. Nor should you fear the exception of a pact, if you can prove that fraud and deceit were committed in it: for a replication of fraud, when opposed, makes it a good‑faith judgment and repels a contrivance of fraud. * ant.
Si ex maiore debiti quantitate minor tibi soluta est nec liberationem debitori tuo praestitisti, petere quod non probatur redditum, contra exceptionem pacti replicatione tuam adiuvans intentionem, minime prohiberis. * diocl. et maxim.
If, out of a greater quantity of the debt, a lesser has been paid to you, and you have not furnished a discharge to your debtor, you are by no means forbidden to demand what is not proven to have been returned, supporting your intention against the exception of a pact by a replication. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si quidem intentionem actoris probatione deficere confidis, nulla tibi defensio necessaria est. si vero de hac confitendo exceptione te munitum adseveres, de hac tantum agi convenit. nam si etiam de intentione dubitas, habita de exceptione contestatione tunc demum, cum intentionem secundum adseverationem suam petitor probaverit, huic esse locum monstrari convenit.
If indeed you are confident that the plaintiff’s claim will fail in proof, no defense is necessary for you. But if you aver that you are fortified by confessing this exception, it is proper that the case be conducted about this alone. For if you also are in doubt about the claim, once issue has been joined on the exception, then only when the petitioner has proved the claim according to his assertion ought it to be shown that there is room for this.
Si quis advocatus inter exordia litis praetermissam dilatoriam praescriptionem postea voluerit exercere et ab huiusmodi opitulatione submotus nihilo minus perseveret atque praeposterae defensioni institerit, unius librae auri condemnatione multetur. * iul. a. ad iulianum com.
If any advocate, after the beginnings of the lawsuit, should wish later to exercise a dilatory prescription that had been passed over, and, removed from aid of this kind, nonetheless persists and presses a preposterous defense, let him be mulcted by a condemnation of one pound of gold. * Julian the Augustus to Julian, count.
Lite pendente actiones, quae in iudicium deductae sunt, vel res, pro quibus actor a reo detentis intendit, in coniunctam personam vel extraneam donationibus vel emptionibus vel quibuslibet aliis contractibus minime transferri ab eodem actore liceat, tamquam si nihil factum sit, lite nihilo minus peragenda. * const. a. ad provinciales.
With the litigation pending, actions which have been brought into judgment, or the things for which the plaintiff makes claim as being detained by the defendant, may by no means be transferred by that same plaintiff to a connected person or to a stranger by donations, purchases, or any other contracts; and, as if nothing had been done, the lawsuit is nonetheless to be carried through. * a constitution of the Augustus to the provincials.
Quicumque rem litigiosam vel ambiguum chirographum, quodlibet denique mobile vel immobile fisco nostro vel potentiori seu aliis personis in testamento sive codicillo legaverit fideive commiserit aut per hereditatem reliquerit, nullam fiscus noster vel alia persona licentiam habeat iurgiorum, nec iudicium subeat, sed aestimatio eius litis ineatur praestanda his, quibus actiones vel res litigiosae relictae sunt. * grat. valentin.
Whoever shall have bequeathed in a will or codicil, or committed in a fideicommissum, or left by inheritance, a litigious matter or an ambiguous chirograph, or finally any movable or immovable thing, to our fisc or to a more powerful person or to other persons, let neither our fisc nor any other person have any license for wranglings, nor undergo a trial; rather, an appraisal of that suit shall be undertaken, to be rendered to those to whom the actions or litigious things have been left. * Gratian, Valentinian.
Quod et de chirographis placet, ut heredes relictorum fisco vel aliis personis praesentem pecuniam numerent et iudicio eos, quos obnoxios existimant, persequantur. <a 380 d. xv k. iul. thessalonicae gratiano v et theodosio aa. conss.>
It is likewise decreed concerning chirographs, that the heirs of the testators pay out ready money to the fisc or to other persons, and by legal action pursue those whom they consider liable. <a 380 on the 15th day before the Kalends of July, at Thessalonica, when Gratian for the 5th time and Theodosius, Augusti, were consuls.>
Censemus, ut, si quis lite pendente vel actiones vel res quas possidet ad alium quendam transtulerit sive scientem sive ignorantem, vitio litigiosi contractus subiacere: distinctione quadam inter contrahentes observanda, ut, si quis sciens vel ad venditiones vel donationes seu ad alios contractus accesserit, cognoscat se compellendum non tantum rem redhibere, sed etiam pretio eius privari, non ut lucro cedat ei qui rem alienavit, sed ut etiam alia tanta quantitas ab eo fisci viribus inferatur: * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
We decree that, if anyone, while a suit is pending, has transferred either actions or things which he possesses to some other person, whether knowing or unknowing, he is subject to the defect of a litigious contract: with a certain distinction to be observed between the contracting parties, namely, that if someone knowingly has entered into sales or donations or other contracts, let him recognize that he will be compelled not only to return the thing, but also to be deprived of its price—not that the profit should fall to him who alienated the thing, but so that another amount of the same size be exacted from him by the power of the fisc: * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 532 on the 15th day before the Kalends of November [October 18], at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the second year.>
Sin autem ignorans rem litigiosam emerit vel per aliam speciem contractus eam acceperit, tunc irrita rei alienatione facta pretium cum alia tertia parte recipiat. iustum est etenim propter dolosam mentem et absconditam machinationem, cum non emptori manifestaverit rem in iudicium deductam fuisse, tertia parte pretii, sicut iam disposuimus, eum puniri. <a 532 d. xv k. nov.
But if, however, an unknowing party has purchased a litigious thing or has received it under another species of contract, then, the alienation of the thing having been rendered void, let him receive the price together with another third part. For it is just, on account of the deceitful mind and hidden machination—since he did not make manifest to the buyer that the thing had been brought into judgment—that he be punished by a third part of the price, as we have already disposed. <a 532 d. 15 k. nov.
Tali videlicet poena non solum in aliis contractibus, verum etiam in donationibus porrigenda, ut vera aestimatione facta, cum pretii datio non est, rem ad alium transferens multetur: omnibus instrumentis, quae super hoc constituuntur, nullam vim obtinentibus. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
Such a penalty, namely, is to be extended not only to other contracts but also to donations, so that, once a true valuation has been made, when there is no payment of a price, the one transferring the thing to another shall be fined: all instruments that are drawn up concerning this having no force. <a 532 on the 15th day before the Kalends of November (October 18), at Constantinople, after the consulate of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the second year.>
Exceptis videlicet huius sanctionis dispositione his, qui vel dotis nomine vel ante nuptias donationis vel transactionis aut divisionis rerum hereditariarum factae vel per legati vel fideicommissi causam tales res vel actiones dederint vel acceperint. <a 532 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc. anno secundo.>
Excepted, namely, from the disposition of this sanction are those who either under the name of a dowry or of a donation before marriage, or by a transaction or a division of hereditary property made, or by reason of a legacy or a fideicommissum, have given or received such things or actions. <in the year 532, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, in the second year.>
Licet epistulae, quam libello inseruisti, additum non sit stipulatum esse eum cui cavebatur, tamen si res inter praesentes gesta est, credendum est praecedente stipulatione vocem spondentis secutam. * sev. et ant.
Although it is not added in the epistle which you inserted into the libellus that the one for whom security was being given had been stipulated for, nevertheless, if the matter was transacted between persons present, it is to be believed that, the stipulation having preceded, the voice of the promiser followed. * sev. et ant.
Si, cum tuam pecuniam crederes accommodato nomine iuliani, stipulatio in personam eius absentis directa est, cum nihil sit actum ea verborum conceptione, intellegis superfuisse tibi rei contractae obligationem. * ant. a. hadriano.
If, when you believed you were lending (crediting) your own money with the accommodated name of Julianus, a stipulation was directed to his person in his absence, since nothing was done by that conception of words, you understand that the obligation of the contracted matter has remained with you. * antoninus augustus to hadrianus.
Secundum responsum domitii ulpiani praefecti annonae iuris consulti amici mei ea , quae stipulata est, cum moreretur, partem dimidiam dotis cui velit relinquere, reddi sibi, cum moreretur, eam partem dotis stipulata videtur. * alex. a. sabinae.
according to the response of Domitius Ulpianus, prefect of the annona, a jurisconsult, my friend, she , who stipulated, when she died, that the half part of the dowry be left to whom she wishes, is deemed to have stipulated that that part of the dowry be restored to herself, when she died. * Alexander to Sabina.
Verum quoniam praeterea, si contra pactum fecerit, quanti ea res est, tibi dari stipulanti adversarium tuum promisisse proponas, huius etiam obligationis post motam litem extitisse condicionem et eius summae, quae in hac quoque stipulatione continetur, petitioni locum factum convenit. <a 293 s. v k. dec. aa. conss.>
But since, moreover, if he has acted against the pact, you set forth that your adversary, upon your stipulation, promised that there be given to you as much as the matter is worth, it is agreed that the condition of this obligation also arose after the suit was set in motion, and that a place has been made for the demand of that sum which is contained in this stipulation as well. <a 293 s. v k. dec. aa. conss.>
Scrupulosam inquisitionem, utrum post mortem an cum morietur vel pridie quam morietur stipulatus sit aliquis vel in testamento legati vel fideicommissi nomine aliquid dereliquerit, penitus amputantes omnia, quae vel in quocumque contractu stipulati vel pacti sunt contrahentes, vel testator in suo testamento disposuit, etiamsi post mortem vel pridie quam morietur scripta esse noscuntur, nihilo minus pro tenore contractus vel testamenti valere praecipimus. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. iii id. dec.
Completely cutting off the scrupulous inquiry whether someone has stipulated “after death” or “when he is dying” or “on the day before he dies,” or has left something in a testament under the name of a legacy or fideicommissum, we command that all things which either the contracting parties have stipulated or agreed in any contract, or which the testator has disposed in his testament, even if they are known to have been written “after death” or “on the day before he dies,” nonetheless are to be valid according to the tenor of the contract or of the testament. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. iii id. dec.
Magnam legum veterum obscuritatem, quae protrahendarum litium maximam occasionem usque adhuc praebebat, amputantes sancimus, ut, si quis certo tempore facturum se aliquid vel daturum se stipuletur vel quae stipulator voluit promiserit et addiderit, quod, si statuto tempore minime haec perfecta fuerint, certam poenam dabit, sciat minime posse ad evitandam poenam adicere, quod nullus eum admonuit: sed etiam citra ullam admonitionem eidem poenae pro tenore stipulationis fiet obnoxius, cum ea quae promisit ipse in memoria sua servare, non ab aliis sibi manifestari poscere debeat. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 529 d. viiii id. april.
Cutting off the great obscurity of the ancient laws, which up to now was affording the greatest occasion for the prolonging of lawsuits, we enact that, if anyone should stipulate that he will do something or will give something at a fixed time, or should promise what the stipulator wished, and should add that, if by the appointed time these things are in no way completed, he will pay a fixed penalty, let him know that he cannot, to avoid the penalty, add that no one admonished him; but even without any admonition he will become liable to the same penalty according to the tenor of the stipulation, since he ought to keep in his own memory the things which he promised, not demand that they be made manifest to him by others. * Justinian Augustus to Menas, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 529 d. 9 before the Ides of April.
Veteris iuris altercationes decidentes generaliter sancimus omnem stipulationem, sive in dando sive in faciendo sive mixta ex dando et faciendo inveniatur, et ad heredes et contra heredes transmitti, sive specialis heredum fiat mentio sive non: cur enim, quod in principalibus personis iustum est, non ad heredes et adversus eos transmittatur? * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. k. aug.
Cutting off the altercations of the old law, we generally sanction that every stipulation, whether it be found in giving or in doing or mixed from giving and doing, be transmitted both to heirs and against heirs, whether a special mention of heirs be made or not: for why should that which is just in the principal persons not be transmitted to heirs and against them? * Justinian Augustus to Julian, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 530, on the Kalends of August.
Et sic existimentur huiusmodi stipulationes, quasi tantummodo in dandum fuerant conceptae, cum nihilo minus et heredes factum possint adimplere: illa subtili et supervacua scrupulositate explosa, per quam putabant non esse possibile factum ab alio compleri, quod alii impositum est. <a 530 d. k. aug. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And stipulations of this kind are to be deemed as though they had been conceived only for giving, since nonetheless even heirs can fulfill the doing: that subtle and superfluous scrupulosity being exploded, by which they used to think it was not possible that an act be completed by another than the one upon whom it was imposed. <a 530 on the Kalends of August, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Optimam quaestionem et frequenter in iudiciis versatam satis humanum est saltem in praesenti dirimere, ne diutius nostram rem publicam molestare concedatur. in multis etenim contractibus et maxime in feneraticiis cautionibus solitum est adscribi, stipulationes per certos servos celebrari. sed quidam indevotione tenti ex hoc materiam altercationis acceperunt: et alii quidem non esse servum adhibitum contendebant, alii vero non eius esse servum, ad quem pertinere scriptura protestabatur: et si non per servum, sed inter praesentes celebratam esse rem fuerit scriptum, et hoc iterum dubitabatur, debere ostendi partes esse praesentes.
It is sufficiently humane at least for the present to resolve an excellent question, and one frequently handled in the courts, lest it be permitted to trouble our commonwealth any longer. For in many contracts, and especially in interest‑bearing bonds, it has been customary to add that stipulations are celebrated through certain slaves. But some, seized by ill‑will, have taken from this a matter for altercation: some indeed contended that no slave had been employed; others, that he was not the slave of the person to whom the writing attested that he belonged. And if it was written that the matter was celebrated not through a slave but between persons present, again there was doubt on this point, that it ought to be shown that the parties were present.
Cum itaque satis utile est in contractibus et servos adhiberi et praesentes esse personas adscribi, forte propter personas dignitate excelsas vel mulieres, quas naturalis pudor non omnibus perperam sese manifestare concedit, sancimus tales scripturas omnifariam esse credendas et, sive adscriptus fuerit servus et ad quandam personam dicitur pertinere, credi omnimodo et servum adesse et fecisse stipulationem et eam esse scripto domino adquisitam et non dubitari, si servus ipse praesto fuerit vel eius domini fuit is, pro quo scriptus est fecisse stipulationem: <a 531 d. k. nov. post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
Since therefore it is quite useful in contracts both that slaves be employed and that persons be recorded as being present—perhaps on account of persons of exalted dignity or of women, whom natural modesty does not allow to manifest themselves improperly to everyone—we sanction that such writings are in every way to be believed; and, whether a slave has been entered and is said to belong to a certain person, it is in every way to be believed both that the slave was present and made the stipulation, and that it has by the writing been acquired for the master; and no doubt is to be entertained, if the slave himself was at hand, or that the one for whom he is written to have made the stipulation was his master: <in the year 531, on the day of the Kalends of November, after the consulate of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Et si inter praesentes partes res acta esse dicitur, et hoc esse credendum, si tamen in eadem civitate utraque persona in eo die commanet, in quo huiusmodi instrumentum scriptum est, nisi is, qui dicit sese vel adversarium abesse, liquidis ac manifestissimis probationibus et melius quidem, si per scripturam, sed saltem per testes undique idoneos et omni exceptione maiores ostenderit sese vel adversarium suum eo die civitate afuisse: sed huiusmodi scripturas propter utilitatem contrahentium esse credendas. <a 531 d. k. nov. post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
And if it is said that the matter was transacted between parties present, this too is to be believed, provided, however, that both persons remain in the same city on the day on which such an instrument is written—unless the one who says that he himself or his adversary was absent shall have shown, by clear and most manifest proofs (and better indeed if by a writing, but at least by witnesses everywhere fit and above every exception), that he himself or his adversary was away from the city on that day; but such writings are to be believed on account of the utility of the contracting parties. <a 531 d. k. nov. post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
Si quis spoponderat insulam, cum moriebatur, aedificare stipulatori, impossibilis veteribus videbatur huiusmodi stipulatio. sed nobis sensum contrahentium discutientibus veri simile esse videtur hoc inter eos actum, ut incipiat quidem contra morientem obligatio, immineat autem heredibus eius, donec ad effectum perducatur. nemo enim ita stultus invenitur, ut tali animo faceret stipulationem, ut putaret posse tantum aedificium in uno momento horae extollere, vel eum qui moritur talem habere sensum, quod ipse sufficiet ad huiusmodi operis completionem.
If someone had promised the stipulator to build a tenement (insula) when he was dying, such a stipulation seemed impossible to the ancients. But to us, as we examine the intention of the contracting parties, it seems probable that this was transacted between them: that the obligation indeed begins against the one dying, but it presses upon his heirs until it is brought to effect. For no one is found so foolish as to make a stipulation with such a mind as to think that so great a building could be raised in a single moment of an hour, or that the one who is dying has such a notion that he himself would suffice for the completion of a work of this kind.
Sancimus itaque, si quid tale evenerit, heredes teneri, ut factum, quod mortis tempore facere promisit, hoc heredes eius adimpleant quasi speciali heredis mentione habita, licet hoc minime fuerit expressum. quemadmodum enim, si in dando fuerit stipulatio, et contra heredes transmittebatur, ita et si in faciendo est, licet in mortis tempus colligatur, attamen ad similitudinem in dando conceptae stipulationis et heredes obligari, ut non discrepet factum a datione, sed sit lex nostra per omnia sibi consentanea. <a 532 d. xv k. nov.
We decree, therefore, that if anything of such a sort shall have happened, the heirs are held, so that the act which he promised to do at the time of death, this his heirs must fulfill, as though a special mention of the heir had been made, although this had not at all been expressed. For just as, if the stipulation were in “giving,” it was transmitted against the heirs, so also if it is in “doing,” although it is tied to the time of death, nevertheless, on the analogy of a stipulation conceived in “giving,” the heirs also are bound, so that “doing” may not differ from “giving,” but our law may be in all things self-consistent. <a 532 d. 15 k. nov.
Cum igitur, defuncta in matrimonio filia tua, superstitis filii nomine partem dimidiam dotis a marito detineri, alteram vero partem nepoti tuo vel, si is in rebus humanis non esset, iuliano restitui per pactum convenisse proponas, praeventoque morte nepote etiam stipulationem ad iulianum factam ob absentiam eius non valuisse significes, ac propterea ex persona ac stipulatione tua, qua restitui cuncta iuxta pactorum tenorem provideras, reddi tibi desideres: super stipulatu tuo adi praesidem provinciae, ut examinatis partium adlegationibus, quantum constituerit interesse tua, iuxta placiti fidem dotis portionem iuliano restitutam fuisse, ob incertae actionis effectum concludat condemnationem taxatae quantita tis. <a 290 pp. id. dec. ipsis iiii et iii aa. conss.>
Since, therefore, after your daughter died in matrimony, you allege that one half of the dowry is being held back by the husband in the name of the surviving son, but that the other half, by pact, was agreed to be restored to your grandson or, if he were no longer among human affairs, to Julian; and you signify that, your grandson being anticipated by death, even the stipulation made to Julian was not valid on account of his absence; and hence you desire, on the ground of your own person and stipulation, by which you had provided that all be restored according to the tenor of the pacts, that it be repaid to you: as to your stipulation, approach the provincial governor, so that, once the parties’ allegations have been examined, in whatever amount he shall have determined your interesse to be, given that according to the faith of the agreement the portion of the dowry had been restored to Julian, he may, by reason of the effect of an uncertain action, conclude a condemnation of an assessed amount. <a 290 pp. id. dec. ipsis 4 et 3 aa. conss.>
Si avia vestra sibi et eustolio, quam mutuam dederat pecuniam, dari fuit stipulata, nihil ei, cuius subiecta iuri non fuerit, quaerere potuit. sane si ipse quod ei solvi placuerat in stipulatione suo nomine deduxit, obligationem in eius etiam personam constitisse non ambigitur. * diocl.
If your grandmother stipulated that the money which she had given as a loan be paid to herself and to Eustolius, she could claim nothing for him to whose authority she had not been subject. However, if he himself, in his own name, inserted in the stipulation that which it had been agreed should be paid to him, it is not doubted that the obligation was constituted also upon his person. * diocl.
Et ideo, si probaveris te conventum in solidum exsolvisse, rector provinciae iuvare te adversus eum, cum quo communiter mutuam pecuniam accepisti, non cunctabitur. <a 287 pp. v k. mart. diocletiano iii et maximiano aa. conss.>
And therefore, if you prove that, having been sued, you have paid in full (in solidum), the rector of the province will not hesitate to aid you against him with whom you jointly received money on loan. <a 287, on the 5th day before the Kalends of March, Diocletian (3) and Maximian, Augusti, consuls.>
Exprimere debueras tuis precibus, utrumne in partem an in solidum singuli vos obligaveritis ac duo rei promittendi extiteritis, cum, si quidem ab initio unusquisque pro parte sit obligatus, egredi contractus fidem non possit, si vero in solidum, electio rescripto adimi non debeat. * diocl. et maxim.
You ought to have expressed in your petition whether each of you bound yourselves for a share or in solidum, and whether you two stood as promisors (rei promittendi), since, if indeed from the beginning each is bound for his part, one cannot go beyond the faith of the contract; but if in solidum, the election ought not to be taken away by a rescript. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum quidam rei stipulandi certos habebant reos promittendi, vel unus forte creditor duos vel plures debitores habebat, vel contrario multi creditores unum debitorem, et alii ex reis promittendi ad certos creditores debitum agnoverint vel per solutionem vel per alios modos, quos in anterioribus sanctionibus interruptionibus et invenimus positos et nos ampliavimus, vel forte ad unum creditorem quidam ex debitoribus devotionem suam ostenderunt, vel cum plures essent creditores, debitor qui solus existeret ad unum ex his vel quosdam debitum agnovit, et quaerebatur, si eis vel ei datur licentia adversus alios indevotionem suam exercere et quasi tempore emenso exactionem recusare, vel quibusdam ex debitoribus debitum agnoscentibus vel in iudicio pulsatis debent et alii ab omni contradictione repelli: * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post c onsulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
When certain parties to stipulation had certain promissory defendants, or perhaps one creditor had two or more debtors, or conversely many creditors one debtor; and some among the promissory defendants have acknowledged the debt to certain creditors either by payment or by other modes, which in prior sanctions concerning interruptions we have found set out and which we have enlarged; or perhaps some of the debtors showed their devotion to one creditor; or, when there were several creditors, the debtor who was sole acknowledged the debt to one of them or to some of them; and the question was asked whether license is given to them or to him to exercise their lack of devotion against the others and to refuse exaction as though time had elapsed, or, when certain of the debtors acknowledge the debt or are haled into court, must the others also be repelled from all contradiction: * JUSTINIAN AUGUSTUS to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 531, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Nobis pietate suggerente videtur esse humanum semel in uno eodemque contractu qualicumque interruptione vel agnitione adhibita omnes simul compelli ad debitum persolvendum, sive plures sint rei sive unus, sive plures creditores vel non amplius quam unus. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
With piety suggesting it to us, it seems humane that, once in one and the same contract, with whatever interruption or acknowledgment applied, all together be compelled to pay the debt, whether there are several obligors or one, whether several creditors or no more than one. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
Si itaque generalis devotio et nemini liceat alienam indevotionem sequi, cum ex una stirpe unoque fonte unus effluxit contractus vel debiti causa ex eadem actione apparuit. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
If, therefore, the devotion is general, let it be permitted to no one to follow another’s indevotion, since from one stock and one source one contract flowed forth, or the cause of the debt has appeared from the same action. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
Nam licet significes adiectum in obligatione, ut singuli in solidum tenerentur, tamen nihil haec res mutat condicionem iuris et constitutionem. nam et cum hoc non adiciatur, singuli tamen in solidum tenentur: sed ubi sunt omnes idonei, in portionem obligatio dividitur. <a 208 pp. xvii k. sept.
For although you indicate that it was added in the obligation that each be bound for the whole, nevertheless this matter changes nothing of the condition of the law and the constitution. For even when this is not added, still each is bound for the whole; but where all are solvent, the obligation is divided into portions. <a 208 pp. xvii k. sept.
Si creditor condicioni mandato adscriptae, cum pecuniam mutuam daret, in accipiendis hypothecis non paruit, frustra te iudicio mandati convenit, quando non alias te obligasse intellegaris, quam si pignoribus contraheretur obligatio. * ant. a. eroti.
If the creditor, to a condition appended to the mandate, when he was giving money as a loan, did not comply in the taking of hypothecs, he brings you to court by the action of mandate in vain, since you are understood to have bound yourself only if the obligation were contracted with pledges. * Antoninus Augustus to Erotus.
Non est autem dubium fideiussorem, rei promittendi bonis ad fiscum devolutis si idem fiscus ob debitum restituendum fuerit conventus et solverit, liberari. <a 239 pp. v k. dec. gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
There is, moreover, no doubt that the surety is released, when the goods of the promissor have devolved to the fisc, and if that same fisc has been sued for repayment of the debt and has paid. <a 239, on the 5th day before the Kalends of December, in the consulship of Gordianus Augustus and Aviola.>
Si alienam reo principaliter constituto obligationem suscepisti vel fideiussorio sive mandatorio vel quocumque alieno nomine pro debitore intercessisti, non posse urgueri creditorem, eum qui mutuam accepit pecuniam quam te convenire, scire debueras, cum, si hoc in initio contractus specialiter non placuit, habeat liberam electionem. * diocl. et maxim.
If you have assumed the obligation of another, with the defendant constituted as principal, or have interceded for the debtor in a fidejussory or mandatorial capacity, or under any other alien designation, you ought to have known that the creditor cannot be compelled to proceed against the one who received the loaned money rather than to proceed against you, since, if this was not specially agreed at the beginning of the contract, he has free election. * diocletian and maximian.
Sancimus, si quis pro alio spoponderit, quatenus eum intra certum tempus tradat vel certam quantitatem pecuniarum pro eo inferat, et tempore statuto iam effluente non poterit eum repraesentare, non statim pecunias pro eo stipulatas inferre , sed competere quidem post temporis lapsum omnimodo poenalem actionem, non autem statim summam, pro qua fideiussor admissus est, profligari. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. vi k. april.
We decree that, if someone has promised on behalf of another, to the extent that he deliver him within a fixed time or bring in a fixed quantity of money for him, and, with the appointed time now elapsing, he cannot present him, he is not immediately to pay the monies stipulated for him , but that after the lapse of the time the penal action in every way lies, yet that the sum for which the surety has been admitted is not immediately to be forfeited. * justinian augustus to julianus, praetorian prefect. * <in 530, on the 6th day before the Kalends of april.
Sed si quidem usque ad sex mensuum spatium tempus statutum sit, aliud tantum ei indulgeri, intra quod si possit personam exhibere et eam tradere, poena sit liberatus. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed the time set is up to a span of six months, let an equal amount further be indulged to him, within which, if he can produce the person and hand him over, he shall be freed from the penalty. <a 530 on the 6th day before the Kalends of April (27 March), at Constantinople, with Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem amplius quam sex mensuum tempus ab initio constitutum est, tunc, quanticumque temporis curricula data sunt, tamen post lapsum eorum semenstres tantum habere eum indutias, intra quas sit ei licentia personam et non pecunias reddere. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, a period of more than six months was constituted from the beginning, then, whatever courses of time were granted, nevertheless, after their lapse he is to have only a six-month respite, within which it is license for him to render the person and not the monies. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Sed si quidem post statutum ab initio tempus completum maluerit reum pro quo convenitur defendere, licere ei hoc facere, nisi pacti tenor ad hoc reclamaverit, si forsitan sine defensione facienda pro eo fideiussit: sed si defensionem subierit, eam usque ad finem adimplere, nulla ei licentia concedenda in medio personam tradere et pecuniarium dationem effugere. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed, after the time set from the beginning has elapsed, he should prefer to defend the defendant on whose account he is convened, let it be allowed him to do this—unless the tenor of the pact objects to this, in case he perhaps stood surety for him without a defense to be made; but if he has undertaken the defense, he must fulfill it through to the end, no license being granted him midway to hand over the person and evade the pecuniary payment. <at 530, on the sixth day before the Kalends of April (March 27), at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, consuls.>
Sin autem et secundum tempus effluxerit, nullo modo ei licentia concedatur nec ad defensionis venire praesidium, sed omnimodo poenam conferat, nisi intra primum tempus quod statutum est reus principalis ab hac luce fuerit subtractus: tunc enim penitus ab exactione poenae liberum eum custodiri oportet. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if even the second period has elapsed, in no way let permission be granted to him, nor let him come to the aid of a defense, but in every way let him pay the penalty—unless within the first period that has been set the principal defendant has been taken from this light: for then he ought to be kept entirely free from the exaction of the penalty. <a 530 d. 6 days before the kalends of april, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Si fideiussor nullam quidem cautionem faciat ostendens se fideiussorem extitisse , praesentibus autem tabulariis hoc confessus est, quod in fide sua eum suscepit , dubitabatur a palaestina advocatione, utrumne post duos menses liberatur quasi sine scriptis fideiussione facta, secundum generalia edicta sublimissimae praetorianae sedis, an utpote scriptura interveniente teneatur: et divisio alia introducebatur, si id iuris esse debet tam in publicis causis quam in privatis. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 531 d. x k. mart.
If a surety makes indeed no bond, showing that he had been a surety , but in the presence of the tabularii confessed this, namely that he took him upon his own faith , it was doubted by the Palestine advocacy whether after two months he is released as though the suretyship had been made without writings, according to the general edicts of the most sublime praetorian seat, or whether, since a writing intervened, he is held bound: and another distinction was being introduced, whether this ought to be the law both in public causes and in private. * justinian augustus to julian, praetorian prefect. * <at 531, on the 10th day before the kalends of march.
Sancimus itaque, nisi confessio litteris exposita fuerit a fideiussoribus ex repraesentatione personarum, licet attestatio super hoc praecesserit, attamen adhuc sine scriptis esse fideiussionem, videlicet in causis privatis, existimari et duobus mensibus effluentibus ab huiusmodi nexu fideiussores liberari, nisi in tempus certum data est fideiussio: tunc enim in tantum eam extendi, in quantum etiam attestatio fuerit expressa. <a 531 d. x k. mart. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
We ordain, therefore, that unless the confession has been set forth in writing by the sureties upon the presentation of the persons, although an attestation on this may have preceded, nevertheless the suretyship is still to be deemed without writings, namely in private causes, and that, with two months having elapsed, the sureties are to be released from such a bond, unless the suretyship has been given for a determinate time: then indeed it is to be extended only to the extent that the attestation also has been expressed. <a dated at Constantinople, the 10th day before the Kalends of March, 531, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Invenimus enim et in fideiussorum cautionibus plerumque ex pacto huiusmodi causae esse prospectum, et ideo generali lege sancimus nullo modo electione unius ex fideiussoribus vel ipsius rei alterum liberari, vel ipsum reum fideiussoribus vel uno ex his electo liberationem mereri, nisi satisfiat creditori, sed manere ius integrum, donec in solidum ei pecuniae persolvantur vel alio modo satis ei fiat. <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
For we have found that even in the bonds of sureties there is frequently provision made by pact for cases of this kind; and therefore by a general law we sanction that in no way, by the choice of one of the sureties or of the principal debtor, is the other released, nor does the debtor himself, by the sureties or by one of them chosen, obtain release, unless satisfaction is made to the creditor; but that the right remain entire, until the moneys are paid to him in full, or in some other way due satisfaction be made to him. <a 531 on the 15 Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Idemque in duobus reis promittendi constituimus, ex unius rei electione praeiudicium creditori adversus alium fieri non concedentes, sed remanere et ipsi creditori actiones integras et personales et hypothecarias, donec per omnia ei satisfiat. <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
And we establish the same in the case of two co-obligors of a promise, not allowing prejudice to the creditor against the other to arise from the election of one debtor, but that there remain to the creditor himself his actions entire, both personal and hypothecary, until in all respects he is satisfied. <in the year 531, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Si enim pactis conventis hoc fieri conceditur et in usu quotidiano semper hoc versari adspicimus, quare non ipsa legis auctoritate hoc permittatur, ut nec simplicitas suscipientium contractus ex quacumque parte possit ius creditoris mutilare? <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
If indeed by pacts agreed this is conceded to be done, and we observe this always to be in quotidian use, why should it not be permitted by the very authority of the law, so that the simplicity of those undertaking contracts may not from any quarter be able to mutilate the creditor’s right? <a 531 day 15 Kalends of November, at Constantinople, after the consulate of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Delegatio debiti nisi consentiente et stipulanti promittente debitore iure perfici non potest: nominis autem venditio et ignorante vel invito eo, adversus quem actiones mandantur, contrahi solet. * alex. a. quintiano et timotheo.
A delegation of a debt cannot be perfected in law unless the debtor, consenting and promising to the stipulator, does so; but the sale of a claim is commonly contracted even with the one against whom the actions are assigned being ignorant or unwilling. * alexander augustus to quintianus and timotheus.
Si delegatio non est interposita debitoris tui ac propterea actiones apud te remanserunt, quamvis creditori tuo adversus eum solutionis causa mandaveris actiones, tamen, antequam lis contestetur vel aliquid ex debito accipiat vel debitori tuo denuntiaverit, exigere a debitore tuo debitam quantitatem non vetaris et eo modo tui creditoris exactionem contra eum inhibere. * gord. a. muciano.
If no delegation has been interposed by your debtor and therefore the actions have remained with you, although you have mandated the actions to your creditor against him for the cause of payment, nevertheless, before the suit is contested or he receives anything from the debt or has given notice to your debtor, you are not forbidden to exact from your debtor the due amount and in that way to inhibit your creditor’s exaction against him. * gordian augustus to mucianus.
Quod si delegatione facta iure novationis tu liberatus es, frustra vereris, ne eo, quod quasi a cliente suo non faciat exactionem, ad te periculum redundet, cum per verborum obligationem voluntate novationis interposita debito liberatus sis. <a 239 pp. v id. iun. gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
But if, a delegation having been made, you have been released by the law of novation, you fear in vain lest, because he, as it were, does not make exaction from his own client, the danger should redound to you, since by a verbal obligation, with the will of novation interposed, you have been freed from the debt. <a 239, the 5th day before the Ides of June, in the consulship of Gordianus Augustus and Aviola.>
Non abstulit tibi procurator tuus actionem, si, cum ei mandasses exactionem pecuniae, quam hi tibi debebant, contra quos supplicas, parte accepta de reliquo eos liberavit, cum neque contra voluntatem tuam novationem facere neque in eo quod non solvebatur eos liberare potuerit. * gord. a. stratonico.
Your procurator did not take away your action, if, when you had mandated to him the exaction (collection) of the money which those men, against whom you petition, owed to you, after accepting a part he released them as to the remainder, since he could neither make a novation against your will nor release them in respect of what was not being paid. * GORDIAN THE EMPEROR TO STRATONICO.
Si pater tuus, cui te successisse proponis, creditori pro alexandro suscepto nomine certam pecuniam stipulanti spopondit, licet per improbitatem alexander ei satis non fecit, tamen summae repromissae nimis improbe solutio negatur. * diocl. et maxim.
If your father, whom you assert you have succeeded, promised to a creditor—stipulating for a determinate sum of money—having assumed the obligation on behalf of alexander, although through the dishonesty of alexander he did not satisfy him, nevertheless the payment of the promised sum is being denied most improperly. * diocl. and maxim.
Novationum nocentia corrigentes volumina et veteris iuris ambiguitates resecantes sancimus, si quis vel aliam personam adhibuerit vel mutaverit vel pignus acceperit vel quantitatem augendam vel minuendam esse crediderit vel condicionem seu tempus addiderit vel detraxerit vel cautionem iuniorem acceperit vel aliquid fecerit, ex quo veteris iuris conditores introducebant novationes, nihil penitus priori cautelae innovari, sed anteriora stare et posteriora incrementum illis accedere, nisi ipsi specialiter remiserint quidem priorem obligationem et hoc expresserint, quod secundam magis pro anterioribus elegerint. * iust. a. ad sena tum.
Correcting the noxiousness of novations and cutting away the ambiguities of the old law, we sanction that, if anyone either has brought in or has changed a different person, or has received a pledge, or has believed the quantity ought to be augmented or diminished, or has added or subtracted a condition or a time, or has accepted a junior security, or has done anything from which the founders of the old law used to introduce novations, nothing at all is innovated against the prior security, but the earlier things stand and the later things accrue as an increment to them, unless they themselves have specially remitted the prior obligation and have expressed this, that they have chosen the second rather in place of the former. * justinian augustus to the sena te.
Et generaliter definimus voluntate solum esse, non lege novandum, etsi non verbis exprimatur, ut sine novatione, quod solito vocabulo anobateutws dicunt, causa procedat: hoc enim naturalibus inesse rebus volumus et non verbis extrinsecus supervenire. <a 530 d. xi k. aug. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And in general we define that change is to be effected by will alone, not by law, even if it is not expressed in words, so that the case may proceed without novation, which by the customary term they call anobateutws; for we wish this to inhere in things by nature and not to supervene from words from outside. <in the year 530, on the 11th day before the Kalends of August, at Constantinople, with Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, as consuls.>
In potestate eius est, qui ex pluribus contractibus pecuniam debet, tempore solutionis exprimere, in quam causam reddat. quod si debitor id non fecit, convertitur electio ad eum qui accepit. si neuter voluntatem suam expressit, prius in usuras id quod solvitur, deinde in sortem accepto feretur.
It is within the power of one who owes money from several contracts, at the time of payment, to express on account of which cause he renders it. But if the debtor did not do this, the election is transferred to the one who received it. If neither expressed his will, that which is paid will be carried first to interest, then to principal.
Si, cum servus liberam peculii administrationem haberet, mutuam pecuniam ab eo accepisti, eique ante ademptum peculium vel priusquam ademptum cognosceres eam exsolvisti, ea solutione liberatus es. * gord. a. apollonio. * <a 238 pp. v k. oct.
If, when a slave had free administration of his peculium, you received money on loan from him, and paid it to him either before the peculium was taken away or before you knew it had been taken away, you are released by that payment. * Gordian the Augustus to Apollonius. * <a 238, on the fifth day before the Kalends of October.
Nulla tibi adversus creditorem alienum actio superest eo, quod debitam ei quantitatem offerens ius obligationis in te transferri desideras, cum ab eo te nomen comparasse non suggeras, licet solutione ab alio facta nomine debitoris evanescere soleat obligatio. * gord. a. celso.
No action remains to you against another’s creditor on the ground that, by offering him the sum due, you desire the right of the obligation to be transferred to yourself, since you do not allege that you have purchased from him the claim (nomen), although an obligation is wont to vanish by a payment made by another in the debtor’s name. * Gordian Augustus to Celsus.
Si inter patrem tuum eosque, quos debitores esse dicebas, non de dubia lite transactio facta est, sed parte tantummodo recuperata universum se recepisse cavit nec de superfluo eos qui verbis obligati erant per acceptilationem liberavit nec donationis causa id factum est, exuberantis debiti integra ei repetitio competit. * gord. a. alexandro.
If between your father and those whom you said were debtors no settlement was made concerning a doubtful lawsuit, but, with only a part recovered, he gave a receipt that he had received the whole, and he did not by acceptilation release, for the surplus, those who were bound by words, nor was this done for the sake of donation, the full recovery of the outstanding debt is available to him. * gordian the emperor to alexander.
Cum maritum tuum a debitoribus tuis minoris viginti et quinque annis constitutae velut ex causa tibi debiti aliquas accepisse quantitates nec tamen te consensum commodasse significes, nullum tibi potuit praeiudicium fieri, nisi factam solutionem post maiorem aetatem ratam feceris. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you indicate that your husband, you being constituted as under twenty‑five years of age, received from your debtors certain quantities as if on account of a debt owed to you, and yet that you did not furnish consent, no prejudice could be done to you, unless you ratified the payment made after attaining majority. * diocletian and maximian.
Si obligatum ex causa mandati non per stipulationem facta novatione, post acceptilatione liberasti, sed tantum receptam ex eadem causa debitam quantitatem falso scripsisti, figmento veritatis extingui non potuit obligatio. * diocl. et maxim.
if one obligated from the cause of a mandate, with no novation having been made by stipulation, you afterwards released by acceptilation, but only falsely wrote that the amount owed from the same cause had been received, the obligation could not be extinguished by a figment of truth. * diocletian and maximian.
Quod debitori tuo chirographum redditum contra voluntatem tuam adseveres, nihil de iure tuo deminutum est. quibuscumque itaque argumentis iure proditis hanc obligationem tibi probanti eum per huiusmodi factum liberationem minime consecutum iudex ad solutionem iure debiti compellet. * diocl.
The fact that you aver the chirograph to your debtor was returned against your will means that nothing of your right has been diminished. Therefore, with whatever arguments lawfully adduced, you proving this obligation to be yours, the judge will compel him to the payment of the debt according to law, since by a deed of this sort he has by no means obtained release. * diocl.
Inquisitio veritatis tolli non potuit, quod chirographa, quae fecerat procurator tuus, recepta tibique restituta ab ipsius herede proponas cum subscriptione procuratoris significante, quod nihil creditoribus debeatur, cum nihil prohibeat et creditoribus satisfactum et non vestrae pecuniae, sed ipsius, cui negotium gerendum mandaveras, processisse solutionem. * diocl. et maxim.
The inquisition of the truth could not be quashed, on the ground that you put forward the chirographs which your procurator had made—having been recovered and restored to you by his heir—with the procurator’s subscription signifying that nothing is owed to the creditors, since nothing prevents both that the creditors have received satisfaction and that the solution proceeded not from your money, but from that of the very person to whom you had mandated the business to be managed. * diocletian and maximian.
Si, actore tam mutuis pecuniis dandis quam debitis recipiendis praeposito, in hoc quod susceperas eius dominae per ipsum fecisti satis, instrumentum inane solutione celebrata nihil tibi nocere potest. aliter enim solventes servo de actione domini liberare se minime possunt. * diocl.
If, with an actor appointed as much for lending monies as for receiving debts, you have through him satisfied his mistress in what you had undertaken, an instrument emptied by the payment having been effected can do you no harm. For otherwise, those paying to a slave can by no means free themselves from the action of the master. * diocl.
Si operas certi servi pecunia sumpta creditorem sibi in debitum compensare placuit, his secundum conventionis fidem praestitis de mancipio restituendo pacti tenor servari debet. * diocl. et maxim.
If, with money borrowed, it has pleased a person to compensate his creditor for the debt by the services of a certain slave, once these things have been rendered according to the good faith of the agreement, the tenor of the pact concerning restoring the slave ought to be observed. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Interest multum, utrumne spe futurae numerationis suscepisse te quod instrumento continetur scripsisti, an accepta minore quantitate tantum quantum lectio probat in scriptura conferri placuit. nam superiori quidem casu residui petitio debiti manet integra, posteriori vero consensu transactionis finitis stare convenit. * diocl.
It matters much whether you wrote that you had undertaken what is contained in the instrument in hope of a future numeration (payment), or, a lesser quantity having been received, it was decided that only as much as the reading proves should be entered in the writing. For in the former case the petition for the residue of the debt remains unimpaired; in the latter, however, by consent of a transaction, with matters concluded, it ought to stand. * diocl.
Si litterarum auxanonis contemplatione, quas ad aristonem de numeranda tibi pecunia dederat, recepisse scripsisti debitum ab aristone, mandato non impleto, cum petitio debiti manet integra, nihil legitimam exactionem impedire potest. * diocl. et maxim.
If, in contemplation of Auxanon’s letters, which he had given to Ariston about the money to be paid to you, you wrote that he had received the debt from Ariston, the mandate not having been fulfilled, since the petition of the debt remains entire, nothing can impede the legitimate exaction. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum pro pecunia quam acceperas secundum placitum euandro te fundum dedisse profitearis, eius industriam vel eventum meliorem tibi, non ipsi prodesse, contrarium non postulaturus, si minoris distraxisset, non iusta petis. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you acknowledge that, for the money which you had received, according to the agreement you gave the estate to Euander, you do not justly seek that his industry or a better outcome should profit you, not himself; you would not have demanded the contrary if he had sold it for less. * diocl. and maxim.
Iam tibi rescripsi posse apud iudicem quaeri, an sollemnibus verbis tutoris auctoritate interveniente soror tua acceptilatione debitorem suum liberaverit. quare si in repetenda pecunia, quam exsolvit, diversa pars perseveraverit, uteris defensionibus competentibus. * ant.
I have already written back to you that it can be inquired before the judge whether, with the authority of the tutor intervening, by solemn words your sister has released her debtor by acceptilation. Therefore, if, in reclaiming the money which she paid, the adverse party persists, you will use the competent defenses. * ant.
Emptor hereditatis rem a possessoribus sumptu ac periculo suo persequi debet. evictio quoque non praestatur in singulis, cum hereditatem iure venisse constet, nisi aliud nominatim inter contrahentes convenit. * sev.
The purchaser of an inheritance must pursue the property from the possessors at his own expense and peril. eviction likewise is not warranted in the individual items, since it is evident that the inheritance was conveyed according to law, unless something else is expressly agreed between the contracting parties. * sev.
Quoniam avus tuus, cum praedia tibi donaret, de evictione eorum cavit, potes adversus coheredes tuos ex causa stipulationis consistere ob evictionem praediorum , pro portione scilicet hereditaria. nudo autem pacto interveniente minime donatorem hac actione teneri certum est. * sev.
Since your grandfather, when he donated the estates to you, provided against their eviction, you can proceed against your coheirs on the ground of stipulation on account of the eviction of the estates , namely for the hereditary portion. with a nude pact intervening, however, it is quite certain that the donor is in no way held by this action. * sev.
Si praedium tibi pro soluto datum aliis creditoribus fuerat obligatum, causa pignoris mutata non est. igitur si hoc iure fuerit evictum, utilis tibi actio contra debitorem competit. nam eiusmodi contractus vicem venditionis obtinet.
if a praedium given to you in discharge (pro soluto) had been encumbered (pledged) to other creditors, the cause of the pledge has not been changed. therefore, if it is evicted by virtue of this right, a useful action (actio utilis) lies for you against the debtor. for a contract of this kind holds the place of a sale.
Ex praediis, quae mercata es, si aliqua a venditore obligata et necdum tibi tradita sunt, ex empto actione consequeris, ut ea a creditrice liberentur: id enim fiet, si adversus venditorem ex vendito actione pretium petentem doli exceptionem opposueris. * ant. a. patroinae.
From the estates which you have purchased, if any are obligated by the seller and not yet delivered to you, you will obtain by the action on purchase that they be freed from the creditor: for this will be done if, against the seller demanding the price by the action on sale, you oppose the defense of fraud. * antoninus augustus to patroinae.
Emptor fundi, nisi auctori aut heredi eius denuntiaverit, evicto praedio neque ex stipulatu neque ex dupla neque ex empto actionem contra venditorem vel fideiussores eius habet. sed et si iudicio emptor non adfuit aut praesens per iniuriam iudicis victus est absente auctore vel fideiussore, regressum adversus eum non habet. * alex.
The buyer of a farm, unless he has given notice to the auctor (warrantor) or his heir, after the estate has been evicted has no action against the seller or his fidejussors either on the stipulation, or for the duplum (double), or on the purchase. But also, if at the trial the buyer did not appear, or though present was defeated through the injustice of the judge, with the auctor or fidejussor absent, he has no recourse against him. * Alexander.
Si controversia tibi possessionis, quam bona fide te emisse adlegas, ab aliquo movetur, auctori heredive eius denuntia. et si quidem obtinueris, habebis quod emisti. sin autem evictum erit, a venditrice successoresve eius consequeris, quanti tua interest: in quo continetur etiam eorum persecutio, quae in rem emptam a te, ut melior fieret, erogata sunt.
If a controversy over possession, which you allege you bought in bona fide, is moved against you by someone, give notice to the auctor or his heir. And if indeed you prevail, you will have what you bought. But if it is evicted, you will recover from the vendor and her successors as much as your interest amounts to; in which is included also the pursuit of those things expended by you upon the thing bought, so that it might be made better.
Si fines agri venditor demonstravit et legem dixit intra eos neminem ingressurum , si quid inde evincatur, periculo fit auctoris. quod si finibus suis quos demonstravit agrum vendidit, lis finalis ad venditorem non pertinet. * alex.
If the seller has pointed out the boundaries of the field and has stated the condition that no one shall enter within them , if anything is evicted from there, it is at the risk of the warrantor. But if he sold the field within his own boundaries which he showed, a boundary-suit does not pertain to the seller. * alex.
Exceptione doli recte eum submovebis, quem ab auctore tuo fideiussorem accepisti , si eius nomine controversiam refert, quasi per uxorem suam, antequam tu emeres , comparaverit, qui vendenti adeo consensum dedit, ut se etiam pro evictione obligaverit. * alex. a. clementi.
By the exceptio of dolus you will rightly ward off the man whom you accepted from your auctor as a surety, if he brings a controversy in his own name, on the claim that, through his wife, he had acquired it before you bought—he who gave such consent to the seller that he even bound himself for eviction. * Alexander Augustus to Clement.
Sive in libertatem evictus est servus quem mercatus es, sive cum comparares convenit, si qua quaestio eius nomine relata esset, etsi necdum evictus esset, ut pretium recuperares, praeses provinciae, quod tibi praestandum animadverterit, restitui iubebit. * gord. a. philippo.
Whether the slave whom you purchased has been adjudged into liberty, or, when you were buying, it was agreed that, if any inquest were brought in his name, even though he had not yet been adjudged, you would recover the price, the governor of the province will order to be restored whatever he shall observe ought to be rendered to you. * gordian augustus to philippo.
Si ob causam iudicati pignora capta sunt ex eius auctoritate, cui praecipiendi ius fuit, ea de quibus complecteris, eaque tu mercatus es, frustra ab ea quae condemnata est vel quae in eius locum successit eorum refertur quaestio, quandoquidem, etsi evictio eorum ab alio subsecuta fuisset, adversus eos debuisse dari actionem, quibus pretii solutio proficit, meritissime rescriptum est. * gord. a. zoilo.
If for the cause of a judgment the pledges were seized by the authority of him who had the right of ordering, those which you include, and which you bought, the question concerning them is raised in vain by her who has been condemned or by her who has succeeded to her place, since—even if their eviction had followed at the instance of another—a legal action ought to be given against those to whom the payment of the price inures; it has been most justly rescripted. * Gordian Augustus to Zoilus.
Sive possessio venditoris fuit, filius eiusdemque patris heres frustra quaestionem movet, sive non patris, sed filii eius possessio fuit, de qua iure hereditario auctor laudari potest, controversiam movere non potest. * gord. a. secundino.
Whether the possession belonged to the seller, the son, and heir of the same father, raises the question in vain; or whether the possession belonged not to the father but to his son, in which matter a warrantor can be vouched by hereditary right, he cannot set a controversy on foot. * Gordian Augustus to Secundinus.
Super empti agri quaestione disceptabit praeses provinciae et, si portionem diversae partis esse cognoverit, impensas, quas ad meliorandam rem vos erogasse constiterit, habita fructuum ratione restitui vobis iubebit. nam super pretio evictae portionis non eum qui dominium evicerit, sed auctricem conveniri consequens est. * diocl.
On the question concerning a purchased field, the governor of the province will adjudicate; and, if he recognizes that a portion belongs to a different party, he will order that the expenses which it shall have been established that you expended to improve the thing, account being had of the fruits, be restored to you. For as to the price of the portion evicted, it follows that the suit is to be brought not against him who vindicated the ownership, but against the vendor. * diocl.
Si, cum quaestio tibi super eo quem comparaveras commoveretur, auctorem tuum certum fecisti nec citra iudicis disceptationem eum quem emeras tradidisti, praeses provinciae in damnis, quae te tolerasse meministi, medelam iuris adhibebit. * diocl. et maxim.
If, when an inquiry was stirred up against you concerning the one whom you had acquired, you made your warrantor certain and did not hand over the one whom you had bought without the judge’s disceptation, the provincial governor will apply the remedy of law to the losses which you remember having borne. * diocl. and maxim.
Si status super homine tibi venumdato mota quaestio est, sollemnibus, quae iuris admitti ratio, interpositis si secundum libertatem fuerit lata sententia, poteris de evictione, si nesciens condicionem eius comparasti, sine aliqua dubitatione auctorem vel eius fideiussores heredesve eorum convenire. quod si fuisse servum sententia declaraverit, intellegis ad venditorem te reverti non posse. * diocl.
if a question has been raised about the status of a man sold to you, with the solemnities interposed which the rationale of law admits, if a sentence has been delivered in favor of liberty, you will be able, on account of eviction, if you acquired him not knowing his condition, without any doubt to proceed against the auctor (seller) or his sureties or their heirs. but if the sentence has declared that he was a slave, you understand that you cannot return against the seller. * diocl.
Quem si liberum esse vel servum non esse fuerit pronuntiatum, nec te conventione remisisse periculum evictionis fuerit comprobatum, praeses provinciae, si res integra est, quanti tua interest restitui tibi providebit. <a 293 s. xi k. iul. serdicae aa. conss.>
If it has been pronounced that he is free or that he is not a slave, and it has not been proven that by convention you remitted the peril of eviction, the governor of the province, if the matter is still intact, will see to it that restitution is made to you to the extent of your interest. <a 293 s. xi k. iul. serdicae aa. conss.>
Cum tibi liberum venumdatum fundum ab auctore proponas, si ex antecedente obligatione quod debebatur iure solvisti, stipulationem, quam subiectam emptioni de indemnitate proponis, ipsius conceptio commissam manifeste declarat. * diocl. et maxim.
When you allege that a fundus was sold to you free (of encumbrances) by the vendor, if from an antecedent obligation you have lawfully paid what was owed, the stipulation concerning indemnity, which you put forward as subjoined to the purchase, its very formulation clearly declares to have been incurred. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum successores etiam venditoris pro evictione teneri possint, si velut obligata sibi res publica thessalonicensium pignoris instituat iure persequi quae comparasti, auctoris heredibus quocumque gradu constitutis adsistere negotio denuntia. quod sive praesentibus his fundus quem emisti fuerit evictus sive absentibus, postea quanti tua interest rem evictam non esse teneri, non quantum pretii nomine dedisti, si aliud non placuit, publice notum est. * diocl.
Since even the successors of the vendor can be held for eviction, if the res publica of the Thessalonians, as though something were obligated to itself, should establish a pledge-right and by law pursue the property which you acquired, give notice to the author’s (vendor’s) heirs, in whatever degree they stand, to assist the case. For whether, with them present, the estate (fundus) you bought is evicted, or with them absent, thereafter it is publicly known that they are liable for as much as your interest that the thing not be evicted, not for as much as you gave by way of the price, unless something else has been agreed. * diocl.
Si post perfectam venditionem ante pretium numeratum rei venumdatae mota fuerit quaestio vel mancipia venumdata proclament in libertatem, cum in ipso limine contractus immineat evictio, emptorem, si satis ei non offeratur, ad totius vel residui pretii solutionem non compelli iuris auctoritate monstratur. * diocl. et maxim.
If, after the sale has been perfected, before the price has been counted out, a question is raised concerning the thing sold, or the slaves sold proclaim for freedom, since eviction threatens on the very threshold of the contract, it is shown by the authority of the law that the buyer, if surety is not offered to him, is not compelled to pay the whole or the remaining price. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Unde cum parte pretii numerata, domus quam emisti tibi velut pignoris iure obligatae ne ad emptionem accederes, denuntiatum ab aliquo proponas, iudex tibi quae ex emptione veniunt praestari providebit. <a 294 s. vi k. febr. sirmi cc. conss.>
Whence, with part of the price counted out, if it was denounced to you by someone that the house which you bought was bound, as by the right of pledge, so that you should not proceed to the purchase, you should produce the denunciation; the judge will see to it that what comes from the purchase be provided to you. <a 294 s. 6 k. febr. sirmi cc. conss.>
Si tibi liberam saturninus condicionem eius ignorans distraxit ac nunc eam defendit in libertatem, hac libera pronuntiata venditorem vel ex stipulatione duplae , quantum in hanc deductum est, vel empti actione quanti tua interest convenire potes. * diocl. et maxim.
If Saturninus, ignorant of her condition, sold to you a free woman and now asserts her into freedom, once this woman has been pronounced free, you can sue the seller either under the stipulation for double, to the extent that was apportioned to her, or by the action of purchase for as much as your interest amounts. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si fundum sciens alienum vel obligatum comparavit athenocles nec quicquam de evictione convenit, quod eo nomine dedit, contra iuris poscit rationem. nam si ignorans, desiderio tuo iuris forma negantis hoc reddi refragatur. * diocl.
If Athenocles knowingly purchased a farm belonging to another or encumbered, and made no agreement about eviction, what he gave under that head he demands back contrary to the reason of law. For even if he was ignorant, the form of the law, denying that this be returned, resists your desire. * diocl.
Si permutationis gratia praedia curatoribus quondam fratris tui mater tua dedit, his, quae in eorum vicem accepit, posteaquam ad defensionem fuerit denuntiatum, vel cum eorum non haberet facultatem, evictis quanti interest eos conveniri posse rationis est. * diocl. et maxim.
If, for the sake of an exchange, your mother gave estates to the former curators of your brother, it is reasonable that, upon eviction, they can be sued for the amount of the interest, with respect to the things which she received in their place, after notice has been given to undertake the defense, or when she did not have the capacity for it. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Non ex eo, quod duplam qui a matre tua mancipium comparavit evictionis nomine stipulatus est, alienae rei scientia convincitur, nec opinio eius ex hoc laeditur , ut malae fidei emptor existimetur. aliis itaque hoc indiciis, si vis, probare debes. * diocl.
Not from the fact that he who acquired a slave from your mother stipulated double under the name of eviction is he convicted of knowledge of another’s property, nor is his repute harmed from this , so that he be considered a bad‑faith purchaser. Therefore you must prove this by other indications, if you wish. * diocl.
Heredem fideiussoris rerum, pro quibus defunctus apud emptorem intercesserat pro venditore, factum eius cui successit ex sua persona dominium vindicare non impedit, scilicet evictionis causa durante actione. * diocl. et maxim.
The heir of the surety for the things, for which the deceased had interceded with the buyer on behalf of the seller, is not prevented by the act of the one whom he has succeeded from vindicating dominion in his own person, namely while an action on account of eviction is pending. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si tamen fiscus in ius alterius creditoris successit, emptori non iusta fisci nomine movetur controversia, sive quia potior fuerat, quando vendebat, sive quia infirmior, quoniam hoc utique praestare debet, qui pignoris iure vendat, potiorem se ceteris esse creditoribus. <a 223 pp. xv k. nov. maximo ii et aeliano conss.>
If, however, the fisc succeeded to the right of another creditor, no just controversy is raised against the buyer in the name of the fisc, whether because it had been the stronger when it was selling or because the weaker; for he who sells by right of pledge ought in any case to assure that he is superior to the other creditors. <in the year 223, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November, in the consulship of Maximus 2 and Aelianus, consuls.>
Si a creditrice iure pignoris fundos pater tuus comparaverit, evictis praediis ita demum petitionem adversus creditricem habere iure potes, si, cum vendiderit, de evictione rei promisit vel etiam dolo malo, cum sciret prudensque esset rem sine vitio non esse, eam patri tuo, cui successisti, venumdedit. nam sicut genus eiusmodi contractus inscium creditorem vinculo evictionis non adstringit, ita eum, qui fraudem admisit vel decepit, non excusat. * gord.
If your father acquired estates from a creditrix by the right of pledge, then only after the properties have been evicted can you lawfully have a claim against the creditrix, if, when she sold, she promised concerning eviction of the thing, or also if by malicious fraud (dolus malus)—when she knew and was aware that the thing was not free from defect—she sold it to your father, whose heir you are. For just as a contract of this kind does not bind an unknowing creditor with the bond of eviction, so it does not excuse one who has admitted fraud or has deceived. * gord.
Si filium tuum in potestate tua dicis esse, praeses provinciae aestimabit, an audire te debeat, cum diu passus sis ut patris familias rem eius agi per eos, qui testamento matris tutores nominati fuerunt. * ant. et verus aa. titio.
if you say that your son is in your power, the governor of the province will assess whether he ought to hear you, since you have long allowed his affairs to be transacted as those of a paterfamilias by those who were named tutors by the mother’s testament. * antoninus and verus, the augusti, to titius.
Si filius tuus in potestate tua est, res adquisitas tibi alienare non potuit: quem, si pietatem patri debitam non agnoscit, castigare iure patriae potestatis non prohiberis, artiore remedio usurus, si in pari contumacia perseveraverit, eumque praesidi provinciae oblaturus dicturo sententiam, quam tu quoque dici volueris. * alex. a. artemidoro.
If your son is under your power, he could not alienate to you the things acquired: whom, if he does not acknowledge the piety owed to a father, you are not prohibited from chastising by the right of paternal power, using a stricter remedy if he persists in equal contumacy, and presenting him to the governor of the province, who will pronounce the sentence which you too will have wished to be pronounced. * alexander augustus to artemidorus.
Sed si ita res fuit, ut iniuriis eorum et ad ius experiundum et ad vindictam processeris, aditus praeses provinciae super disceptationibus quidem pecuniariis consuetum exerceri iubebit ordinem iuris: reverentiam autem debitam exhibere matri filios coget et, si provectam ad inclementiores iniurias improbitatem deprehenderit, laesam pietatem severius vindicabit. <a 259 pp. xvi k. iun. aemiliano et basso conss.>
But if the matter was thus, that on account of their injuries you proceeded both to try the law and to vengeance, the governor of the province, once approached, will order the accustomed order of law to be exercised with respect to pecuniary disputes; but he will compel the sons to exhibit the reverence owed to their mother, and, if he discovers that wickedness has advanced to more unmerciful injuries, he will more strictly vindicate the piety that has been offended. <in the year 259, 16 days before the Kalends of June, Aemilianus and Bassus, consuls.>
Nec filium negare cuiquam esse liberum senatus consulta de partu agnoscendo ac denuntiata poena, item praeiudicium edicto perpetuo propositum et remedium alimentorum apud praesidem maiori trimo petenti monstratum iure manifesto declarant. * diocl. et maxim.
Nor may anyone deny that a son is free; the senatus consulta on acknowledging a birth and the penalty denounced, likewise the prejudgment set forth in the perpetual edict, and the remedy of alimenta (maintenance) indicated before the governor to a petitioner older than three years, manifestly declare this by law. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Impuberem, quem ad vicem naturalis subolis adrogare desideras, si hi, qui sanguinis necessitudine iunguntur, id ei expedire apud praesidem provinciae confirmaverint, filium habebis, ita ut bonorum tuorum quarta pars tam in postremo iudicio tuo, quam si a te emancipatus fuerit, ei praebeatur et super patrimonio eius idoneis fideiussoribus datis servo publico caveatur, ne sub copulandae adoptionis obtentu in facultates eius, quae ei diligenti provisione servandae sunt, inruas. * diocl. et maxim.
An under-pubescent, whom you desire to adrogate in place of natural offspring, if those who are joined by a necessity of blood have confirmed before the president of the province that this is expedient for him, you will have as a son, on condition that a fourth part of your goods be furnished to him both in your last will and, if he should be emancipated by you; and, with suitable sureties provided, let security be taken before the public slave concerning his patrimony, lest under the pretext of an adoption to be joined you rush upon his resources, which must be preserved for him with diligent provision. * Diocletian and Maximian.
A muliere quidem, quae nec suos filios habet in potestate, adrogari non posse certum est. verum quoniam in solacium amissorum tuorum filiorum privignum tuum cupis in vicem legitimae subolis obtinere, adnuimus votis tuis secundum ea, quae adnotavimus, et eum proinde atque ex te progenitum ad fidem naturalis legitimique filii habere permittimus. * diocl.
By a woman, indeed, who does not have even her own sons in her power, it is certain that one cannot be adrogated. However, since, for the solace of your lost sons, you desire to obtain your stepson in place of lawful offspring, we assent to your wishes according to those things which we have annotated, and we permit you to hold him, accordingly, as if begotten from you, to the standing of a natural and legitimate son. * diocl.
Cum in adoptivis filiis, qui filii familias constituti a patribus naturalibus aliis dantur, antiquae sapientiae incidit quaedam dubitatio, si oportet talem filium, si praeteritus a naturali patre fuerat, habere contra eius testamentum de inofficioso actionem ( quam papinianus quidem negat, paulus autem sine effectu derelinquit, marcianus vero distinguit, ne ex hac causa utriusque patris perderet successionem, naturalis quidem voluntate eius circumventus, adoptivi propter egestatem, quam forte habebat), et iterum aliud vitium erat exortum: si enim post patris naturalis obitum pater adoptivus per emancipationis modum iura adoptionis dissolvisset, nulla spes ei remanebat neque contra patris naturalis voluntatem, quia mortis eius tempore in aliena fuerat familia constitutus, neque cont ra adoptivum patrem, quia per emancipationem eius familia exemptus est: ideo talem dubitationem et tale vitium corrigentes sancimus per adoptionem quidem ad extraneam personam factam iura naturalis patris minime dissolvi, sed ita eum permanere, quasi non fuisset in alienam familiam translatus. cum enim tanta fragilitas est adoptionis, ut possit in ipso die et filius fieri et extraneus per emancipationem inveniri, quis patiatur iura patris naturalis nexu divino copulata ludibrio defraudari, cum in hoc casu et contradicendi filio ex iure vetere datur licentia et invitus transire ad aliam familiam non cogitur? * iust.
Since, in adoptive sons—who, being constituted as filii familias, are given by their natural fathers to others—a certain doubt of ancient wisdom arose: whether such a son, if he had been passed over by his natural father, ought to have against his testament the action for an inofficious testament (which Papinian indeed denies, Paulus, however, leaves without effect, while Marcian makes a distinction, lest from this cause he should lose the succession of both fathers—the natural, indeed, his will having been circumvented, the adoptive because of the poverty which perchance he had); and again another defect had arisen: for if, after the death of the natural father, the adoptive father had dissolved the rights of adoption by the mode of emancipation, no hope remained to him either against the will of the natural father, because at the time of his death he had been constituted in another’s family, or cont ra the adoptive father, because by emancipation he was exempted from his family. Therefore, correcting such a doubt and such a defect, we sanction that by an adoption made to a stranger the rights of the natural father are in no way dissolved, but that he remain thus, as though he had not been transferred into an alien family. For since so great is the fragility of adoption that on the very day one can both become a son and be found a stranger through emancipation, who would allow the rights of the natural father, linked by a divine nexus, to be defrauded by mockery, since in this case both a license of contradicting is given to the son by the old law and he is not compelled, against his will, to pass into another family? * iust.
Omnia igitur, secundum quod iam disposuimus, cum ad extraneum patrem filius per adoptionem transfertur, maneant integra iura sive ad de inofficiosi querellam sive ad alias omnes successiones sive ab intestato sive ex testamento, quae liberis deferuntur, ut et ipse possit prodesse patri naturali et ab eo naturalia debita percipere. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Therefore let all rights, according to what we have already disposed, remain intact when by adoption a son is transferred to an extraneous father, whether as to the inofficious complaint or as to all other successions, whether ab intestato or ex testamento, which are conferred upon children, so that he himself also may be able to benefit his natural father and receive from him the natural debts. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Si vero pater naturalis avo materno filii sui vel, si ipse fuerit emancipatus, etiam paterno, vel proavo simili modo paterno vel materno filium suum dederit in adoptionem, in hoc casu, quia in unam personam concurrunt et naturalia et adoptiva iura, maneat stabile ius patris adoptivi et naturali vinculo copulatum et legitimo adoptionis modo constrictum: et ad eum solum respiciat filius, cui eum et natura adgregavit et lex per adoptionem adsignavit, et papiniani sententia in hac specie procedat, et ad eum tantummodo filius adoptivus spes totas extendat et non patris naturalis successionem molestare concedatur, sed avita et proavita tantummodo reverentia protegetur, eique adquirat quae possunt adquiri et prodesse, et is ei solus pater intellegatur, quem lex fecit et natura non dereliquit. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if the natural father has given his son in adoption to the son’s maternal grandfather or—if he himself has been emancipated—also to the paternal grandfather, or in like manner to the paternal or maternal great‑grandfather, in this case, because in one person both natural and adoptive rights concur, let the right of the adoptive father remain stable, coupled by the natural bond and constrained by the legitimate mode of adoption; and let the son look to him alone, to whom both nature has joined him and the law by adoption has assigned him; and let Papinian’s opinion prevail in this instance; and let the adoptive son extend all his hopes to him alone, and it shall not be permitted to trouble the succession of the natural father; but only the reverence due to the grandfather and great‑grandfather shall be protected, and let him acquire for him those things which can be acquired and bring benefit; and let he alone be understood to be father to him, whom the law has made so and whom nature has not forsaken. <in the year 530, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sed haec manere integra, nisi avus et proavus emancipatum fecerint filium adoptivum: tunc etenim necesse est iterum ad patrem naturalem eum reverti, cum emancipationis interventu adoptio in quamcumque personam facta dissolvitur. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But these provisions remain intact, unless the grandfather and great-grandfather have made the adopted son emancipated: for then it is necessary that he return again to his natural father, since by the intervention of emancipation an adoption made into whatever person is dissolved. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
( 1) sed ne articulum adoptionis et in extraneam personam factae sine lege relinquamus, licentiam damus tali adoptivo patri, id est extraneo, si voluerit, nihil ei testamento suo relinquere, sed quidquid ei reliquerit, hoc libertatis sit, non legitimo vinculo adstrictum: cum enim per omnia naturae suae filium adgregavimus, manifestissimum est, quod et adquisitiones omnium rerum, quae ad filium familias pervenerint, secundum leges nostras non adoptivo extraneo patri, sed naturali usque ad modum usus fructus perveniunt, et remaneat in sacris patris naturalis, quasi imaginaria quadam et nova adfectione ei adquisita, non pristinae cognationis deminutione introducta. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
( 1) but, lest we leave the article of adoption—even one made into a stranger—without a law, we grant license to such an adoptive father, that is, to a stranger, if he should wish, to leave him nothing by his testament; but whatever he does leave him, let this be a matter of freedom, not constrained by a legitimate bond: for since we have in all respects aggregated him as a son of his own nature, it is most manifest that the acquisitions of all things which shall have come to the filiusfamilias, according to our laws, accrue not to the adoptive stranger father, but to the natural one up to the measure of usufruct, and let it remain in the sacra of the natural father, as if acquired to him by a certain imaginary and new affection, not introduced by a diminution of the former cognation. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Sed si quidem remaneat in tali adoptione nulla interveniente emancipatione, in hoc tantummodo prodesse ei volumus adoptionem, ut non successione ab intestato patris extranei adoptivi defraudetur, sed habeat accessionem fortunae ex patris naturalis sibi voluntate adquisitam. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed he remain in such an adoption with no emancipation intervening, we wish the adoption to benefit him only in this respect: that he not be defrauded of intestate succession from the extraneous adoptive father, but that he have an accession of fortune acquired for himself by the volition of his natural father. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Neque enim ex vetere iure cognationis nexus naturalis patris per adoptionem filio dissolvebatur, sed accedebant iura adoptiva certis reliquiis ex iure naturali remanentibus, et qui legitimus erat familiae adoptivae, is naturalis fuerat cognatus. quis enim materna iura possit abolere, cum videbatur et antiquo iure patrem quidem habere adoptivum, matrem autem eam, quam natura cognoscit? <a 530 d. k. sept.
For neither under the older law was the bond of cognation of a natural father to his son dissolved by adoption, but adoptive rights were superadded, certain remnants from the law of nature remaining, and he who was a legitimate member of the adoptive family remained a natural cognate. For who could abolish maternal rights, since even under the ancient law he was considered to have an adoptive father indeed, but as mother that woman whom nature recognizes? <a 530 d. k. sept.
Et ideo sancimus, etsi habet huiusmodi filius iura integra naturae, tamen, si intestatus pater extraneus adoptivus decesserit, habere eum etiam sui heredis ius ad eius tantummodo successionem, ut non etiam legitima iura ad familiam extranei patris adoptivi habeat, nec ipsa ad eum communionem aliquam habeat, sed quasi extraneus ita ad illam familiam inveniatur. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And therefore we sanction that, although a son of this kind has the intact rights of nature, nevertheless, if the adoptive father, being an outsider, should die intestate, he shall have also the right of a suus heres to his succession only, so that he shall not also have the legitimate rights toward the family of the outsider adoptive father, nor shall that family itself have any communion with him, but he shall be found toward that family as if a stranger. <a year 530, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, consuls.>
Sin autem per emancipationem iura adoptiva fuerint dissoluta, tunc nullus ei penitus regressus ad adoptivum extraneum patrem, etsi moriatur intestatus, relinquatur, sed maneat tantummodo patrem naturalem cognoscens, tamquam non fuisset ab initio in adoptionem translatus. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, by emancipation the adoptive rights have been dissolved, then no reversion at all to the adoptive father, a stranger, is left to him, even if he should die intestate; rather, let him remain recognizing only his natural father, as though he had not from the beginning been transferred into adoption. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Quae autem de aliis adoptivis diximus, haec sancimus etiam de his, qui ex afiniano senatus consulto ex tribus maribus fuerant ab extraneo adoptati, nulla penitus differentia inter alios adoptivos et eos introducenda. <a 530 d. k. sept. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But the things which we have said about other adoptives, we ordain the same also for those who, by the Afinian senatorial decree, had been adopted by an outsider from among three males, with absolutely no difference to be introduced between other adoptives and them. <a 530 on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Quae in filio diximus in adoptionem a patre dato, haec et in filia et in nepote et in nepte et deinceps personis utriusque sexus in sacris constitutis extendimus, si tamen tempore mortis avi sui parentes eos vel eas non antecedant. si enim patres eos antecedant ( ubi nec imponitur necessitas avo aliquid nepoti vel nepti relinquere), maneant omnia iura adoptiva ei intacta. haec enim omnis sanctio de filio et filia et nepote et nepte et deinceps personis in sacris constitutis introducta est, ubi dubitabatur, quid statuendum est, quasi duobus patribus ei, uno ex natura, altero ex lege positis.
The things which we have said concerning a son given into adoption by his father, these we extend also to a daughter and to a grandson and to a granddaughter, and thereafter to persons of either sex constituted in sacred orders, provided, however, that at the time of their grandfather’s death their parents do not precede them. For if their fathers do precede them (where no necessity is imposed upon a grandfather to leave anything to a grandson or granddaughter), let all adoptive rights remain intact to him. For this whole sanction has been introduced concerning a son and a daughter and a grandson and a granddaughter, and thereafter persons constituted in sacred orders, where there was doubt what ought to be determined, as if two fathers were set for him, one by nature, the other by law.
Ubi autem homo sui iuris constitutus per adrogationem ex augusta liberalitate sese dederit in adoptionem, tunc omnia iura patris adoptivi habeat intacta. cum enim nullum inter patres inducitur discrimen, sit suus heres adoptivus patri adrogatori et familiae eius adgregetur, et omnia, quae ad filium adrogatum veteres legum latores induxerunt, intacta illibataque in eorum personis reserventur. <a 530 d. k. sept.
But when a person sui iuris, by adrogation from august liberality, has given himself into adoption, then let all the rights of the adoptive father remain intact. For since no distinction is introduced between fathers, let the adopted son be a proper heir (suus heres) to the adrogating father and be aggregated to his familia, and let everything which the lawgivers of old introduced concerning an adrogated son be preserved intact and inviolate in their persons. <a 530 d. k. sept.
Veteres circuitus in adoptionibus, quae per tres emancipationes et duas manumissiones in filio aut per unam emancipationem in ceteris liberis fieri solebant, corrigentes sive tollentes censemus licere parenti, qui liberos in potestate sua constitutos in adoptionem dare desiderat, sine vetere observatione emancipationum et manumissionum hoc ipsum actis intervenientibus apud competentem iudicem manifestare, praesente et eo qui adoptatur et non contradicente, nec non eo qui eum adoptat. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 530 d. v k. nov.
Correcting or removing the old circuits in adoptions—which used to be effected by three emancipations and two manumissions in the case of a son, or by one emancipation in the case of the other children—we decree that it is permitted to a parent who desires to give into adoption children established in his power to manifest this very thing, without the old observance of emancipations and manumissions, by acts intervening before the competent judge, the one who is adopted being present and not contradicting, and likewise the one who adopts him. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <in 530, on the 5th day before the Kalends of November.
Iubemus licere parentibus, id est patri avo paterno seu proavo ceterisque ulterius per masculini sexus personas continua generis serie coniunctis, si liberos, quos habent in potestate propria, id est filium filiam, nepotem seu neptem ex filio, pronepotem seu proneptem ceterosque itidem per masculini sexus personas continua generis linea sibi coniunctos, per emancipationem vel absentes et peregre degentes vel in isdem locis seu regionibus et civitatibus commorantes, in iudicio vero non praesentes, iuris sui constituere maluerint, supplicationibus porrectis mereri super hoc divinum oraculum hocque apud competentem iudicem, ad cuius iurisdictionem actus emancipationis pertinet, insinuare superque precibus a semet oblatis apud eum deponere, ut hoc subsecuto et auctoritate praecedente p rincipali plenissimum robur emancipatio sortiatur, et personae, in quas talis liberalitas collata sit, de aliena potestate quasi a parentibus ex emancipatione manumissae liberentur: si tamen ipsae nihilo minus sub gestorum testificatione vel apud eundem iudicem vel apud alium quemlibet proposito parentum suam etiam voluntatem consonare vel ante preces oblatas et sacros apices promulgatos vel postea deposuerint, nisi infantes sint, qui et sine consensu etiam hoc modo sui iuris efficiuntur. * anastas. a. constantino pp. * <a 502 d. xi k. aug.
We order that it be permitted to parents—namely to a father, a paternal grandfather, or a great‑grandfather, and to others further on who are conjoined in a continuous series of lineage through persons of the male sex—if they should prefer to constitute as sui iuris children whom they have in their own power, that is, a son, a daughter, a grandson or granddaughter through a son, a great‑grandson or great‑granddaughter, and others likewise conjoined to them through persons of the male sex in an unbroken line of descent—by emancipation, whether the children are absent and living abroad or dwelling in the same places or regions and cities, and indeed not present in court—to merit, upon the presentation of supplications, a divine rescript concerning this matter, and to have this insinuated before the competent judge to whose jurisdiction the act of emancipation pertains, and moreover to deposit before him the petitions that they themselves have submitted, so that, this having followed and the imperial authority having preceded, emancipation may obtain the fullest force, and the persons upon whom such liberality has been conferred may be freed from another’s power, as if, by emancipation, they had been manumitted by their parents: provided, however, that they themselves, nonetheless, under the attestation of the record of proceedings, either before the same judge or before any other whatsoever, shall also have declared that their own will accords with their parents’ purpose, whether they have deposited it before the petitions were presented and the sacred letters were promulgated, or afterwards—unless they are infants, who even without consent also in this way become sui iuris. * Anastasius Augustus to Constantine, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 502 d. 11 k. Aug.
Cum inspeximus in emancipationibus vanam observationem custodiri et venditiones in liberas personas figuratas et circumductiones inextricabiles et iniuriosa rhapismata, quorum nullus rationabilis invenitur exitus, iubemus huiusmodi circuitu in posterum quiescente licentiam esse ei, qui emancipare vult, vel ex lege anastasiana hoc facere vel sine sacro rescripto intrare competentis iudicis tribunal vel eos adire magistratus, quibus hoc facere vel legibus vel ex longa consuetudine permissum est, et filios suos vel filias, nepotes vel neptes vel deinceps progeniem in potestate sua constitutam a sua manu dimittere et legitima iura omnimodo habere, etsi non specialiter haec sibi servaverit, et peculium donare vel alias res liberalitatis titulo in eos transferre, et eas res, quae adquiri indignantur, per usum fructum secundum nostrae constitutionis modum detinere et omnia facere, vana tantummodo secundum quod dictum est observatione sublata. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. k. nov.
Since we have observed, in emancipations, a vain observance being kept, and sales feigned to free persons, and inextricable circumductions, and injurious rhapismata, of which no reasonable outcome is found, we order, with such circuity henceforth at rest, that it be permitted to him who wishes to emancipate either to do this under the Anastasian law or, without a sacred rescript, to enter the tribunal of a competent judge, or to approach those magistrates by whom to do this is permitted either by the laws or by long custom, and to release from his hand his sons or daughters, grandsons or granddaughters, or thereafter the progeny established in his power, and in every way to have the lawful rights, even if he has not specifically reserved these for himself, and to donate the peculium or to transfer other things to them under the title of liberality, and to hold, by usufruct according to the manner of our constitution, those things which do not admit of being acquired, and to do all things, the vain observance only, as has been said, being removed. * Justinian the Augustus to John, praetorian prefect. * <in the year 531, on the Kalends of November.
Ex duobus captivis sarmatia nata patris originem ita secuta videtur, si ambo parentes in civitatem nostram redissent. quamquam enim iure proprio postliminium habere non possit quae capta non est, tamen parentum restitutio reddet patri filiam. * sev.
Of two captives, a girl born in Sarmatia is thus seen to follow the father’s origin, if both parents had returned to our state. For although she who was not captured cannot by her own right have postliminium, nevertheless the restoration of the parents will give back the daughter to the father. * sev.
Qui cum ab hostibus interemptus sit, matris dumtaxat condicionem, quae secum filiam duxit, videtur necessario secuta. nam fictio legis corneliae, quae legitimos apud hostes defuncto constituit heredes, ad eam quae illic suscepta est non pertinet, cum eo tempore quo captus est diem suum pater obisse existimetur. <a xxx pp. sine die et consule.>
Since he was slain by the enemy, only the status of the mother, who took the daughter with her, is deemed necessarily to have been followed. For the fiction of the Lex Cornelia, which constitutes legitimate heirs for one deceased among the enemy, does not pertain to her who was born there, since the father is considered to have died at the time when he was captured. <a xxx pp. sine die et consule.>
Ab hostibus redempti, quoad exsolvatur pretium, in causam pignoris constituti quam in servilem condicionem videntur esse detrusi: et ideo si nummi eo nomine expensi donatio intercedat, pristinae condicioni eos reddi manifestum est. * gord. a. publiciano.
Those redeemed from enemies, until the price is paid, seem to be placed under the head of a pledge rather than thrust into a servile condition; and therefore, if a donation should intervene of the money expended for that purpose, it is manifest that they are restored to their former condition. * gordian augustus to publicianus.
Proinde si ab hostibus redemptam post dissolutum veluti naturalis pignoris vinculum in matrimonio habere coepisti, nihil est, quod de statu eius seu liberorum communium debeas pertimescere. <a 241 pp. ii id. iun. gordiano a. ii et pompeiano conss.>
Accordingly, if, after the dissolution of, as it were, the bond of a natural pledge, you have begun to have in marriage a woman redeemed from the enemy, there is nothing that you ought to fear concerning her status or that of the children in common. <a 241 pp. 2 id. iun. gordiano a. 2 et pompeiano conss.>
Cum cognatos tuos nondum postliminio regressos adfirmes, sed adhuc in rebus esse humanis, et bona eorum fraudibus diversae partis dissipari, interpellatus rector provinciae providebit eum sub observatione constituere, qui stipulante servo publico satis idonee dederit. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you affirm that your cognates have not yet returned by postliminium, but are still among the living, and that their goods are being dissipated by the frauds of the opposing party, the governor of the province, when appealed to, will take care to appoint, under oversight, someone who, with the public slave stipulating, will furnish adequate security. * diocl. et maxim.
Nec nos praeteriit hereditatem eius, quam incognitum erat ab hostibus interfecta an capta esset, a filio adiri non potuisse ( quando eorum bona, qui in hostium potestatem rediguntur, eo demum tempore successionis iure adquiri possunt, cum captos apud hostes mortuos esse cognoscitur) , nec super facultatibus eius, cuius incerta vita ac fortuna fuit, transigi vel iudicari potuit. * diocl. et maxim.
Nor did it escape us that the inheritance of her—of whom it was unknown whether she had been slain by the enemies or taken captive—could not be entered upon by the son ( since the goods of those who are reduced into the power of the enemies can only then be acquired by right of succession, when it is learned that those captured among the enemies are dead) , nor could there be a settlement or judgment concerning the assets of one whose life and fortune were uncertain. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Unde posteaquam apud hostes materteram vestram fati munus implesse innotuit, tunc vobis licentia permittitur agnoscendae per bonorum possessionem successionis: non officientibus enim, quae perperam gesta sunt, si priorem gradum obtinetis, successionis compendium ad vos pertinet. <a 290 pp. v k. iun. ipsis aa. iiii et iii conss.>
Whence, after it became known among the enemy that your aunt had fulfilled fate’s due, then license is granted to you for acknowledging the succession through possession of the goods; for the things which were improperly done do not impede, if you hold the prior degree, the compendium (advantage) of the succession pertains to you. <a 290, on the 5th day before the Kalends of June, the same Emperors, consuls for the 4th and 3rd time.>
Cum non redemptum ab hostibus filium tuum, sed sine ullo contracto traditum a barbaris praefecto legionis dicas, postliminii ius locum habuit et ilico ingenuitati suae reddi eum praeses provinciae iubebit. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you say that your son was not ransomed from the enemies, but, without any contract entered into, was handed over by the barbarians to the prefect of the legion, the right of postliminy has applied, and the governor of the province will order that he be immediately restored to his freeborn status. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum et postliminii ius et communis utilitatis ratio exigat, ut, si qui captos ab hostibus redemerint, accepto pretio redemptos suae ingenuitati restituant, proponasque redemptorem noluisse oblatum pretium a te vel ab alio recipere, praeses provinciae efficaci instantia compellet eum legibus obtemperare et recepto eo quod pretii nomine dependitur status securitatem non inquietare. * diocl. et maxim.
Since both the right of postliminium and the rationale of common utility require that, if any have ransomed persons captured by the enemy, then, the price having been accepted, they restore the ransomed to their own freeborn status; and since you set forth that the redeemer was unwilling to receive the offered price from you or from another, the governor of the province, by effective insistence, will compel him to obey the laws and, once he has received that which is paid under the name of price, not to disturb the security of status. * diocl. et maxim.
Foedissimae mulieris nequitia permovemur. cum igitur filiam tuam captam ac prostitutam ab ea quae eam redemerat ob retinendae pudicitiae cultum ac servandam natalium honestatem ad te confugisse proponas, praeses provinciae, si filiae tuae supra dictam iniuriam ab ea, quae sciebat ingenuam esse, inflictam cognoverit, cum huiusmodi persona indigna sit pretium recipere propter odium detestabilis quaestus, etiamsi pretium compensatum non est ex necessitate miserabili, custodita ingenuitate natae tuae adversus flagitiosae mulieris turpitudinem tutam eam defensamque praestabit. * diocl.
We are moved by the wickedness of a most foul woman. Since, then, you allege that your daughter, having been seized and prostituted by the one who had redeemed her, fled to you for the sake of retaining the observance of chastity and preserving the honor of her birth, the governor of the province, if he learns that the aforesaid injury to your daughter was inflicted by one who knew her to be freeborn, since a person of this kind is unworthy to receive a price on account of the odium of a detestable trade, even if the price is not reimbursed owing to pitiable necessity, with the freeborn status of your daughter safeguarded, will ensure that she is safe and defended against the turpitude of the scandalous woman. * diocl.
Praeses provinciae, ne ulterius in servitutis iugo detinearis, curae habebit: qui pro sollertia tua parum ignorat magis filiorum tuorum statum tueri, quos, posteaquam redempta es, enixam te esse significas, cum eos, qui post redemptionem nascuntur, ne pignoris quidem vinculo ob pretium, quod pro his datum non est, teneri nullis auctoribus visum est. * diocl. et maxim.
The governor of the province will have it in his care that you not be further detained under the yoke of servitude; and, in view of your skillfulness, he is well aware that it is rather the status of your sons that must be protected, whom you indicate you bore after you were redeemed, since it has seemed to no authorities that those who are born after redemption are held even by the bond of pledge on account of a price which was not paid for them. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Unde si ex testamento ad te sive intestato successionem patris tui pertinere apud praesidem provinciae probaveris, restitui tibi res hereditarias iubebit, si non tantum postquam reversus es tempus effluxit, quantum intentionem tuam temporis prolixitate conquiescere facit. <a 293 pp. v id. april. aa. conss.>
Whence, if you shall have proved before the governor of the province that the succession of your father pertains to you either from a testament or ab intestate, he will order the hereditary goods to be restored to you, provided that not so much time has elapsed after you returned as would, by the protraction of time, cause your claim to fall quiescent. <a 293, April 9, in the consulship of the Augusti.>
Sicut liberis captis ab hostibus ac postliminio reversis status pristinus restituitur, sic servi domino. unde si haec, cuius meministi, ancilla patris tui fuit nec commercio redempta est, reversa dominum vel eius successorem sequitur, qui per captivitatem hanc amiserat. * diocl.
Just as to free persons captured by enemies and returned by postliminium their former status is restored, so to slaves with respect to their master. And so, if this maidservant, whom you recall, was your father’s and was not redeemed by commerce, upon returning she follows the master or his successor, who had lost her through captivity. * diocl.
Si liberum captum te ab hostibus commercio redemit sabinus et eum vinculum pignoris superstitem remisisse tibi probetur, non libertus effectus, sed ingenuitati quam amiseras restitutus nullum filiis eius obsequium debes. * diocl. et maxim.
If, you being freeborn and captured, Sabinus redeemed you from the enemy by commerce, and it is proved that he remitted to you the surviving bond of pledge, you, not made a freedman but restored to the ingenuousness (freeborn status) which you had lost, owe no obsequium to his sons. * diocl. et maxim.
Ab hostibus capti et non commercio redempti, sed virtute militum nostrorum liberati ilico statum, quem captivitatis casu amiserant, recipiunt: servi autem dominis suis restituentur: receptos enim eos, non captos iudicare debemus, et militem nostrum defensorem eorum decet esse, non dominum. * diocl. et maxim.
Those captured by enemies and not ransomed by commerce, but freed by the valor of our soldiers, immediately recover the status which they had lost by the casualty of captivity: slaves, however, will be restored to their masters: for we ought to judge them recovered, not captured, and it befits our soldier to be their defender, not their master. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si is, qui te ab hostibus ingenuam captam commercio redemit, sibi matrimonio coniunxit, dignitate nuptiarum et voto futurae iustae subolis vinculo pignoris tibi remisso redditos natales pristinos rationis est. * diocl. et maxim.
If he who redeemed you—freeborn, captured by enemies—by purchase, has joined you to himself in matrimony, it is reasonable that, by the dignity of the nuptials and the vow of future lawful offspring, with the bond of pledge remitted to you, your former natal status be restored. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Ius postliminii filiam rebus humanis exempta matre, dum in servitutis ipsa necessitate per captivitatis causam fuit, eventu purgato vigore ad eius legitimam invitat hereditatem, nec tibi medii temporis fortuna, quominus res maternas successione quaesitas persequi possis, iniuriam fieri patimur. * diocl. et maxim.
The right of postliminy, the mother having been removed from human affairs while she herself was under the necessity of servitude by reason of captivity, once the event is purged and vigor restored, invites the daughter to her lawful inheritance; nor do we allow the fortune of the intervening time to work you an injury, whereby you might be prevented from pursuing the maternal property acquired by succession. * diocl. et maxim.
Is, qui liber constitutus captus ab hostibus commercio redimitur, et antequam restituatur pro eo data pecunia, successionis iura sibi vindicare favore ingenuitatis potest, ut ex ea possit pretium pro se datum exsolvere. * diocl. et maxim.
He who, having been constituted free, is captured by enemies and ransomed by purchase, and, before he is restored, money has been given on his behalf, can, by the favor of freeborn status, claim the rights of succession for himself, so that from it he may be able to pay off the price paid for him. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Quo genere matre filium redimente, cum huiusmodi contractus non de mercede, sed de tristitia repudianda cogitatur, voti recipiendi filium cogitatio cum optabili condicione filium ilico matri restituit, ita ut et civilium obsequio munerum propter casum praeteritum non excusetur. <a 294 s. iii k. nov. develto cc. conss.>
In a case of this kind, where a mother is redeeming her son, since a contract of this sort is considered not about a fee but about grief to be repudiated, the consideration of obtaining her wish—to receive back her son—upon a desirable condition restores the son to the mother immediately, such that he is not excused from the observance of civil munera on account of the past mischance. <a 294 s. iii k. nov. develto cc. conss.>
Ab hostibus captis ac postliminio reversis pro huiusmodi casu amissa, quae in eadem causa quidem durant, omnimodo directa, quae vero per usucapionem vel liberationem ex bonis subtracta vel non utendo finita esse videntur, intra annum utilem experientibus actione rescissoria restituuntur. * diocl. et maxim.
For those captured by enemies and returned by postliminium, the things lost on account of such a case, which indeed remain in the same condition, are in every way recoverable by a direct action; but those which seem to have been subtracted from the goods by usucapion or by liberation, or to have been ended by non-use, are restored by a rescissory action to those bringing suit within a useful year. * diocletian and maximian.
Si quos forte necessitas captivitatis abduxit, sciant, si non transierunt, sed hostilis inruptionis necessitate transducti sunt, ad proprias terras festinare debere, recepturos iure postliminii ea, quae in agris vel mancipiis seu aliis rebus ante tenuerunt, etsi a fisco nostro possideantur. * valentin. valens et grat.
If any persons have perchance been carried off by the necessity of captivity, let them know that, if they did not cross over, but were led across by the necessity of a hostile irruption, they ought to hasten to their own lands, being to receive by the right of postliminium those things which they formerly held in fields or in slaves or in other goods, even if they are possessed by our fisc. * Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian.
Quibus si quicquam in usum vestium vel alimoniae impensum est, humanitati sit praestitum nec maneat victualis sumptus repetitio: exceptis his, quos barbaris vendentibus emptos esse docebitur, a quibus status sui pretium propter utilitatem publicam emptoribus aequum est redhiberi. <a 409 d. iii id. dec. ravennae honorio viii et theodosio iii aa. conss.>
For such persons, if anything has been expended for the use of clothing or of nourishment, let it be rendered to humanity, and let there not remain a demand for repetition of the victual expense: except for those who will be shown to have been bought from barbarians who were selling them, from whom it is fair, on account of the public utility, that the price of their status be reimbursed to the purchasers. <a 409, on the third day before the Ides of December, at ravenna, in the consulship of honorius 8 and theodosius 3, augusti, consuls.>
Ne quando enim damni consideratio in tali necessitate positis negari faciat emptionem, decet redemptos aut datum pro se pretium emptoribus restituere aut laboris obsequio vel opere quinquennii vicem referre beneficii, habituros incolumem, si in ea nati sunt, libertatem. <a 409 d. iii id. dec. ravennae honorio viii et theodosio iii aa. conss.>
Lest at any time, indeed, a consideration of loss make the purchase be denied for those placed in such necessity, it is fitting that the redeemed either restore to the purchasers the price paid on their behalf, or, by an attendance of labor or by work of a quinquennium, render the equivalent of the benefit, having their liberty unimpaired, if they were born in it. <a 409, on the 3rd day before the ides of december, at ravenna, when honorius for the 8th time and theodosius for the 3rd time, augusti, were consuls.>
Reddantur igitur sedibus propriis sub moderatione qua iussimus, quibus iure postliminii etiam veterum responsis incolumia cuncta servanda sunt. <a 409 d. iii id. dec. ravennae honorio viii et theodosio iii aa. conss.>
Let them therefore be restored to their own seats under the regulation which we have ordered, for whom, by the right of postliminy, as even in the responses of the ancients, all things are to be preserved unharmed. <a 409 on the 3rd day before the Ides of December, at Ravenna, Honorius for the 8th and Theodosius for the 3rd time, Augusti, consuls.>
( 1) si quis itaque huic praecepto fuerit conatus obsistere actor conductor procuratorque, dari se metallis cum poena deportationis non ambiget: si vero possessionis dominus, rem suam fisco noverit vindicandam seque deportandum. <a 409 d. iii id. dec. ravennae honorio viii et theodosio iii aa. conss.>
( 1) if anyone, therefore, shall have attempted to resist this precept—the actor, the conductor, and the procurator—he will not doubt that he is to be consigned to the mines with the penalty of deportation: but if it is the owner of the holding, let him know that his property is to be claimed by the fisc and that he himself is to be deported. <a 409 given on the 3rd day before the Ides of December, at Ravenna, under Honorius 8 and Theodosius 3, augusti, consuls.>
Et ut facilis exsecutio proveniat, christianos proximorum locorum volumus huius rei sollicitudinem gerere: curiales quoque proximarum civitatum placuit admoneri , ut emergentibus talibus causis sciant legis nostrae auxilium deferendum: ita ut noverint rectores universi decem libras auri a se et tantundem a suis apparitoribus exigendum, si praeceptum neglexerint. <a 409 d. iii id. dec. ravennae honorio viii et theodosio iii aa. conss.>
And that an easy exsecution may ensue, we will that the Christians of the nearest localities bear the solicitude of this matter: the curials also of the neighboring cities it has pleased to admonish , that, such causes arising, they may know that the assistance of our law is to be brought: thus that all governors may know that ten pounds of gold are to be exacted from themselves and the like amount from their apparitors, if they shall have neglected the precept. <given at Ravenna on the 3rd day before the Ides of December in 409, when Honorius was consul for the 8th time and Theodosius for the 3rd time, emperors, consuls.>
Si invito vel ignorante te partus ancillae vel adscripticiae tuae expositus est, repetere eum non prohiberis. sed restitutio eius, si non a fure vindicaveris, ita fiet, ut, si qua in alendo eo vel forte ad discendum artificium iuste consumpta fuerint, restitueris. * alex.
If, with you unwilling or unaware, the offspring of your maidservant or adscriptitious woman has been exposed, you are not forbidden to reclaim him. But his restitution, if you have not vindicated him from a thief, shall be effected thus: that you shall restore whatever has been justly expended in rearing him, or perhaps for learning a craft. * alex.
Sancimus nemini licere, sive ab ingenuis genitoribus puer parvulus procreatus sive a libertina progenie sive servili condicione maculatus expositus sit, eum puerum in suum dominium vindicare sive nomine dominii sive adscripticiae sive colonariae condicionis: sed neque his, qui eos nutriendos sustulerunt, licentiam concedi penitus ( cum quadam distinctione) eos tollere et educationem eorum procurare, sive masculi sint sive feminae, ut eos vel loco libertorum vel loco servorum aut colonorum aut adscripticiorum habeant. * iust. a. demostheni pp. * <a 529 d. xv k. oct.
We ordain that it be permitted to no one, whether a very small boy born from freeborn parents or from a freed lineage or stained by a servile condition, if he has been exposed, to claim that child into his own dominion, whether under the name of ownership or of adscriptitious or colonary condition: but neither is license granted at all to those who have taken them up to be nourished ( with a certain distinction) to take them up and to procure their upbringing, whether they be male or female, so that they have them either in the place of freedmen or in the place of slaves or of coloni or adscripticii. * justinian augustus to demosthenes, praetorian prefect. * <a 529 d. 15 days before the kalends of october.
Sed nullo discrimine habito hi, qui ab huiusmodi hominibus educati sunt, liberi et ingenui appareant et sibi adquirant et in posteritatem suam vel extraneos heredes omnia quae habuerint, quomodo voluerint, transmittant, nulla macula vel servitutis vel adscripticiae aut colonariae condicionis imbuti: nec quasi patronatus iura in rebus eorum his qui eos susceperunt vel susceperint praetendere concedi, sed in omnem terram, quae romanae dicioni supposita est, haec obtinere. <a 529 d. xv k. oct. chalcedone decio vc. cons.>
But, with no discrimination being had, let those who have been reared by persons of this sort appear free and freeborn, and let them acquire for themselves and transmit, to their own posterity or to outside heirs, all that they shall have had, as they may have wished, stained by no blot either of servitude or of adscriptitious or coloniary condition; nor is it granted that, as if rights of patronage, claims be put forward over their property by those who have received or shall have received them; rather, let these provisions obtain in the whole land that is subjected to Roman dominion. <a year 529, on the 15th day before the Kalends of October, at Chalcedon, Decius, a man of most illustrious rank, consul.>
Neque enim oportet eos, qui ab initio infantes abegerunt et mortis forte spem circa eos habuerunt, incertos constitutos, si qui eos susceperunt, hos iterum ad se revocare conari et servili necessitati subiugare: neque hi, qui eos pietatis ratione suadente sustulerunt, ferendi sunt denuo suam mutantes sententiam et in servitutem eos retrahentes, licet ab initio huiusmodi cogitationem habentes ad hoc prosiluerint, ne videantur quasi mercimonio contracto ita pietatis officium gerere. <a 529 d. xv k. oct. chalcedone decio vc. cons.>
For neither ought those who from the beginning drove away the infants and perhaps had a hope of death concerning them, being placed in uncertainty, if any have taken them up, to try to call these back to themselves again and to subjugate them to a servile necessity: nor are those to be tolerated who, with the reasoning of piety persuading them, took them up, now changing their judgment anew and dragging them back into servitude, although from the outset, having such a cogitation, they may have leapt to this, lest they seem to perform the office of piety as though, a mercantile contract having been concluded, they were acting thus. <a 529 d. xv k. oct. chalcedone decio vc. cons.>
Praeses provinciae probatis his, quae in oppido frequenter in eodem genere controversiarum servata sunt, causa cognita statuet. nam et consuetudo praecedens et ratio quae consuetudinem suasit custodienda est, et ne quid contra longam consuetudinem fiat, ad sollicitudinem suam revocabit praeses provinciae. * alex.
The governor of the province, after approving those practices which have been observed in the town frequently in the same kind of controversies, will decide the case after inquiry. For both the precedent custom and the rationale which persuaded the custom must be kept, and, lest anything be done against long-standing custom, the governor of the province will recall it to his own solicitude. * alex.
Si nominis persecutionem in te emancipatam pater tuus titulo donationis transtulit, frustra praetendit, qui debitori tuo heres extitit, consensum fuisse debitoris necessarium, cum satis fuerit actiones eo nomine tibi mandatas fuisse. * gord. a. leonidi.
If your father transferred to you, under the title of donation, the pursuit of the claim, conveyed by mancipation, he who has become heir to your debtor vainly pretends that the debtor’s consent was necessary, since it was sufficient that the actions in that matter were mandated to you. * gordian the augustus to leonidas.
Legem, quam rebus tuis donando dixisti, sive stipulatione tibi prospexisti, ex stipulatu, sive non, incerto iudicio ( id est praescriptis verbis) apud praesidem provinciae debes agere, ut hanc impleri provideat. * diocl. et maxim.
The condition which you stated, in making a donation, concerning your property, or which you provided for yourself by stipulation, you must pursue before the governor of the province by the action from the stipulation, or, if not, by an action for an indeterminate claim ( that is, by prescribed words), so that he may see to its fulfillment. * diocletian and maximian.
Nec ignorans nec invitus quisque donat. unde si de hoc fundo non cogitasti, cuius velut donationi consensisse continetur instrumento, maiores veritate rei quam scriptura vires obtinente intellegis, de quo non cogitasti nec specialiter subscripsisti, nihil te perdidisse. * diocl.
No one donates either ignorantly or unwillingly. Whence, if you did not think about this estate, with respect to which the instrument contains that you, as it were, consented to the donation, with the truth of the matter obtaining greater force than the writing, you understand that, regarding that which you did not think about nor specifically subscribe, you have lost nothing. * diocl.
Cum de bonis tuis partem quidem penes te retinuisse, partem vero in eum quem in potestate habes donationis titulo contulisse commemores, non est incerti iuris in eum, qui in sacris familiae tuae remanet, destinationem magis paternae voluntatis factam, quam perfectam donationem pervenisse. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you recount that, of your goods, you indeed have retained a part for yourself, but have conferred a part, under the title of donation, upon him whom you have in your power, it is not of doubtful law that, as to him who remains in the sacra of your familia, there has been made rather a designation of paternal will than that a perfected donation has come to pass. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Sive emancipatis filiis res donasti sive in potestate constitutis et sui iuris effectis ac tenentibus non ademisti, blandiri tibi non debes, velut res donatas ex paenitentia liceat auferre. * diocl. et maxim.
Whether you donated property to emancipated sons, or to those who were under your power and became sui iuris, and, while they were in possession, you did not take it away, you ought not to flatter yourself, as if it were permitted to remove donated property out of penitence. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Sane si ea, quae in tua positis potestate donaveras, post emancipationem contra tuam tenuerunt voluntatem, horum penes te dominium remansit, si quidem nec tempore quo voluisti propter vinculum potestatis sibi quicquam quaerere, nec post invito te de rebus tuis potuerunt. <a 293 s. vi k. ian. aa. conss.>
Indeed, if those things which, being placed in your power, you had donated, they kept after emancipation contrary to your will, the dominion of these remained with you, since both at the time when you wished they could, by reason of the bond of power, acquire nothing for themselves, and afterwards, with you unwilling, they could not do so from your property. <a 293 s. vi k. ian. aa. conss.>
Si avia vestra proprias res quacumque ratione factas titulo liberalitatis in eum contra quem preces funditis contulit, quominus haec rata maneant, quod ex origine patris vel avi vestri descendunt, nihil prodest. * diocl. et maxim.
If your grandmother, however she acquired her own property, has conveyed it under a title of liberality to the person against whom you pour forth petitions, the fact that these things descend from the lineage of your father or your grandfather is of no benefit to prevent their remaining ratified. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum res filio emancipato ea condicione, ut creditoribus tuis solveret, te donasse proponas, si stipulatione vel in continenti habito pacto huic rei prospexisti , creditoribus quidem non contra eum ex placito vestro, sed adversus te competit actio. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you assert that you have donated the property to your emancipated son on this condition, that he should pay your creditors, if by a stipulation or by a pact had on the spot you provided for this matter , the action belongs to the creditors not against him from your agreement, but against you. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Eum autem, cui certa lege praedia donasti, incerta civili actione ad placitorum obsequium urgueri secundum legem donationibus dictam convenit. <a 294 s. vii k. april. sirmi cc. conss.>
But the one to whom you have donated estates under a fixed stipulation, it is proper that he be compelled, by a civil action for an indeterminate sum, to the observance of the covenants, according to the law laid down concerning donations. <A.D. 294, 7 days before the Kalends of April, at Sirmium; the Caesars as consuls.>
Donatio, sive directa sit sive mortis causa instituta, sive condicionibus faciendi ac non faciendi suspensa sive ex aliquo notato tempore promissa, sive animo dantium accipientiumve sententiis quantum ius sinit cognominata, sub hac fieri debet observatione, ut quas leges indulgent actiones condiciones pactionesque contineat, hisque penitus cognitis vel recipiantur, si complacitae sunt, vel reiciantur, si sunt molestae. * constant. a. ad maximum pu. * <a 316 d. iii non.
A donation, whether it is direct or established mortis causa, whether suspended by conditions of doing or not doing, or promised from some specified time, or denominated according to the intent of the givers or the judgments of the recipients, so far as the law permits, must be made under this observance: that it contain those actions, conditions, and pactions which the laws grant; and, these being thoroughly known, let them either be accepted, if they are pleasing, or rejected, if they are burdensome. * Constantine Augustus to Maximus, Prefect of the City. * <year 316, day 3 before the Nones.>
In conscribendis autem donationibus nomen donatoris, ius ac rem notari oportet, neque id occulte aut privatim, sed ut tabulae aut quodcumque aliud materiae tempus dabit vel ab ipso vel ab eo quem sors ministraverit perscribatur: actis etiam adnectendis, quae apud iudicem vel magistratus conficienda sunt, ubi hoc leges expostulant. <a 316 d. iii non. febr.
In the drawing up of donations, moreover, the name of the donor, the right and the thing must be noted, and this not secretly or privately, but let it be written out either by the person himself or by him whom chance shall have supplied, in such manner as the tablets or whatever other material the time will afford; with the acts also to be annexed, which are to be completed before a judge or magistrates, where the laws demand this. <a 316 d. 3 Nones of Feb.
Si quis in emancipatum minorem, priusquam fari possit aut habere rei quae sibi donatur adfectum, fundum crediderit conferendum, omne ius compleat instrumentis ante praemissis. * constant. a. aconio catullino procons.
If anyone, in regard to an emancipated minor, before he can speak or have an affect toward the thing that is being donated to him, shall have deemed a fundus to be conferred, let him complete the whole right by instruments previously sent ahead. * Constantine Augustus to Aconius Catullinus, proconsul.
Data iam pridem lege statuimus, ut donationes interveniente actorum testificatione conficiantur. quod vel maxime inter necessarias coniunctissimasque personas convenit custodiri, si quidem clandestinis ac domesticis fraudibus facile quidvis pro negotii opportunitate configi potest, vel id quod vere gestum est aboleri. * const.
Long since, by law we have decreed that donations be executed with the intervention of a testification of the records. Which most especially ought to be observed among persons of necessary and most intimate connection, since indeed by clandestine and domestic frauds anything whatsoever can easily be contrived to suit the opportunity of the affair, or that which was truly transacted can be abolished. * Constantine.
Quisquis rem aliquam donando vel in dotem dando vel vendendo usum fructum eius retinuerit, etiamsi stipulatus non fuerit, eam continuo tradidisse credatur, ne quid amplius requiratur, quo magis videatur facta traditio, sed omnimodo idem sit in his causis usum fructum retinere, quod tradere. * honor. et theodos.
Whoever, by donating or giving in dowry or selling some thing, has retained its usufruct, even if he has not stipulated, is to be deemed to have immediately delivered it, so that nothing further be required whereby the delivery may seem more to have been made; but in every way, in these cases, to retain the usufruct is the same as to deliver. * Honorius and Theodosius.
In aliis vero civitatibus, sive absens sive praesens rector provinciae sit, sive eadem civitas habeat magistratus sive non habeat et defensor tantummodo sit, donator habeat liberam facultatem donationes rerum suarum ubicumque positarum sive apud moderatorem cuiuslibet provinciae sive apud magistratus sive apud defensorem cuiuscumque civitatis prout maluerit publicare: atque ut ipsa donatio sita est in voluntate donantis, ita ei liceat donationem suam apud quemcumque ex memoratis voluerit intimare. <a 459 d. v non. mart.
However, in other cities, whether the governor of the province be absent or present, whether that same city have magistrates or do not have them and only a defensor be in place, let the donor have free faculty to publish the donations of his property, wherever situated, either before the moderator of any province or before the magistrates or before the defensor of whatever city, as he shall have preferred: and as the donation itself is set in the will of the donor, so let it be permitted to him to intimate his donation before whichever of the aforesaid he will.
In donationibus, quae actis insinuantur, non esse necessarium iudicamus vicinos vel alios testes adhibere: nam superfluum est privatum testimonium, cum publica monumenta sufficiant. * zeno a. sebastiano pp. * <a 478 d. k. mart. constantinopoli ello vc. cons.>
In donations which are entered in the official records, we judge it not necessary to bring in neighbors or other witnesses: for private testimony is superfluous, since public records suffice. * Zeno Augustus to Sebastianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 478 on the Kalends of March, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Illus, a most distinguished man.>
Verum et alias donationes, quas gestis non est necessarium adlegari, si forte per tabellionem vel alium scribantur, et sine testium subnotatione valere praecipimus, ita tamen, si ipse donator vel alius voluntate eius secundum solitam observationem subscripserit: donationibus, quae sine scriptis conficiuntur, suam firmitatem habentibus secundum constitutionem theodosii et valentiniani ad hierium praefectum praetorio promulgatam. <a 478 d. k. mart. constantinopoli ello vc. cons.>
But we also prescribe that other donations, which it is not necessary to be adduced in the public acts, if perchance they are written by a tabellion or another, are to be valid even without the subscription of witnesses, provided, however, that the donor himself, or another by his will, has subscribed according to the customary observance: while donations which are concluded without writings have their own firmness according to the constitution of Theodosius and Valentinian, promulgated to Hierius, praetorian prefect. <a 478 d. k. mart. constantinopoli ello vc. cons.>
Secundum divi leonis constitutionem donationes apud virum clarissimum magistrum census tantummodo insinuari praecipimus, huiusmodi forma in illis instrumentis observanda, quae in hac regia urbe confecta seu celebrata fuerint: nec concedi quemquam vel apud defensores seu magistratus aliarum civitatum vel in aliis quibuslibet locis praeter memoratum iudicium insinuare: scientibus tam his qui ad huiuscemodi insinuationem pervenerint quam his qui eam susceperint nec non tabellionibus, quicumque testimonium suum non in competenti ( ut dictum est) loco v el iudicio praebuerint, vicenarum librarum auri multa et alia gravissima indignatione se feriendos. * anastas. a. euphemio pp. * <a 496 d. prid.
According to the constitution of the deified Leo we prescribe that donations are to be insinuated (entered) only before the most illustrious Man, the Master of the Census, this form being observed in those instruments which shall have been drawn up or celebrated in this royal city: nor is it granted to anyone to insinuate either before the Defenders or magistrates of other cities or in any other places whatsoever apart from the aforesaid court: with the understanding both for those who shall have come to an insinuation of this kind and for those who shall have received it, and also for the tabelliones (notaries), that whoever shall have furnished their testimony not in the competent (as said) place or court, are to be struck with a fine of twenty pounds of gold and with other most grievous indignation. * anastasius a. to euphemius, praetorian prefect. * <a 496 d. prid.
Illam subtilem observationem amputamus, per quam donationis titulo cessiones actionum accipientes non aliter eas suis transmittere heredibus poterant, nisi litem ex his contestati essent vel ius contestationis divino rescripto meruissent. nam sicut venditionis titulo cessas actiones etiam ante litis contestationem ad heredes transmitti permittitur, simili modo et donatas ad eos transferri volumus, licet nulla contestatio vel facta vel petita sit. * iust.
We cut off that subtle observation, by which those receiving cessions of actions under the title of donation could not otherwise transmit them to their heirs unless they had contested the suit arising from these or had obtained by divine rescript the right of contestation. For just as actions ceded under the title of sale are permitted to be transmitted to heirs even before the litis contestatio, in a similar way we wish those given by donation to be transferred to them, although no contestation has either been made or sought. * iust.
Quod et in procuratore constituendo ad movendas easdem cessas actiones similiter observandum erit, ut minime quis impediatur procuratorem cessarum sibi per donationem actionum dare, licet nulla litis contestatio facta vel petita sit. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli dn. iustiniano a. pp. ii cons.>
Which likewise must be observed in constituting a procurator to set in motion those same ceded actions, namely, that no one at all be impeded from giving to himself a procurator of the ceded actions through a donation of actions, although no litis contestation has been made or sought. <at Constantinople, on the Kalends of June, in the year 528, under our lord Justinian, perpetual Augustus, in his 2nd consulship>
Quae in his tantum personis locum habere censemus, quae susceptis per donationem cessionibus adhuc superesse noscuntur: nam iam mortuis huiusmodi personis vetera iura super hisdem cessionibus posita servari concedimus. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli dn. iustiniano a. pp. ii cons.>
We consider that these provisions have place only for those persons who, having accepted assignments by donation, are known still to survive; for, if such persons have already died, we permit the ancient rights established concerning these same assignments to be observed. <a 528 on the Kalends of June, at Constantinople, our lord Justinian, ever Augustus, consul for the 2nd time.>
Sancimus omnem donationem sive communem sive ante nuptias factam usque ad trecentos solidos cumulatam non indigere monumentis, sed communem fortunam habere, ut non usque ad ducentorum solidorum summam teneat, sed in huiusmodi observatione similes sint tam communes quam ante nuptias donationes. * iust. a. demostheni pp. * <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani.
We ordain that every donation, whether common or made before the nuptials, up to three hundred solidi in the aggregate, does not need instruments, but has the common condition, so that it is not held only up to the sum of two hundred solidi, but in an observance of this kind both common and ante-nuptial donations are alike. * Justinian Augustus to Demosthenes, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 529 recited on the 7th in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian.
Si quid autem supra legitimam definitionem fuerit donatum, hoc quod superfluum est tantummodo non valere reliquam vero quantitatem quae intra legis terminos constituta est in suo robore perdurare, quasi nullo penitus alio adiecto, sed hoc pro non scripto vel intellecto esse credatur. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
If anything, moreover, has been granted beyond the legitimate definition, only that which is superfluous shall not be valid, but the remaining quantity which is established within the limits of the law shall endure in its own force, as if no other thing at all had been added, but let this be deemed as not written or understood. <a 529 recited on the seventh in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November (October 30).
Exceptis donationibus tam imperialibus quam his, quae in causas piissimas procedunt: quarum imperiales quidem donationes merito indignari sub observatione monumentorum fieri tam a retro principibus quam a nobis sancitum est, sed firmam habere propriam maiestatem: alias vero, quae ad pietatem respiciunt, usque ad quingentorum summam et sine monumentis esse validas censemus. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
With the exception of donations both imperial and those which proceed to most pious causes: as to which, imperial donations indeed it has been sanctioned, both by former princes and by us, that it is rightly to disdain their being made under the observance of instruments, but that they have a firm, proper majesty; whereas the others, which have regard to piety, we judge to be valid up to the sum of five hundred and without instruments. <a 529 read for the seventh time in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. dated the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
His insuper ante nuptias donationibus, quae in adultas minores sui iuris constitutas cuiuscumque summae procedunt, secundum veterum legum scita, et nisi actis intervenientibus corroboratae sunt, suam retinentibus firmitatem. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
Moreover, as to antenuptial donations, which proceed to adult minors constituted sui iuris, of whatever sum, in accordance with the enactments of the ancient laws, even if no public acts intervene to corroborate them, they retain their own validity. <a 529 read for the seventh time in the new consistory of the palace of justinian. given on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
( 1) sin autem non in auro res donationis fuerint datae, sed per res mobiles vel immobiles vel se moventes, quantitatum earum aestimari et, si quidem usque ad legitimam solidorum summam erigatur, validam eam et sine monumentis conservari: sin autem amplioris summae inveniatur et minime actis comprobata est, superfluum tantum vacuari. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
( 1) but if the things of the donation have not been given in gold, but by movable things or immovable things or things moving of themselves, let their quantities be appraised; and, if indeed it is raised up to the lawful sum of solidi, let it be valid and preserved without instruments; but if it is found to be of a larger sum and is in no way proved by the acts, only the excess is to be voided. <a 529 recited on the 7th in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. d. 3 k. nov.
Ne autem communione inducta donatori et qui liberalitatem suscepit aliqua oriatur contentio, electionem damus ei, qui ampliorem summam in re donata habuerit, reliquae aestimationis quantitatem offerre ei, qui minorem causam habuit, et totum possidere. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
Lest, however, with co-ownership introduced, some contention arise for the donor and the one who has received the liberality, we grant an election to him who has the greater sum in the donated thing, to proffer the amount of the remaining valuation to him who had the lesser interest, and to possess the whole. <year 529 recited for the seventh time in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
Sin autem hoc minime facere maluerit, tunc omnimodo res dividi secundum quantitatem utrique parti competentem, si res dividi sine suo periculo possibilis est. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
But if he should prefer by no means to do this, then in any case the property is to be divided according to the quantity appropriate to each party, if the property can be divided without danger to itself. <a 529 recited on the 7th in the new consistory of the Palace of Justinian. d. 3 Kalends of November.
Sin autem huiusmodi casibus, in quibus partitio utiliter celebrari minime potest , amplioris summae dominus noluerit aestimationem offerre, tunc licebit etiam ei , qui minoris summae habet potestatem, offerre pretium et totum sibi vindicare. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
But if, however, in cases of this sort, in which a partition can in no wise be usefully carried out , the owner of the larger share should be unwilling to offer the valuation, then it shall be permitted also to him , who has control of the lesser share, to offer the price and claim the whole for himself. <a 529 recited for the seventh time in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. d. 3 k. nov.
Si quis autem per diversa tempora in eandem personam multas faciat liberalitates , quarum singulae quidem legitimam quantitatem non excedunt, in unum autem compositae et praedicto modo exaggeratae redundare videntur et maioris esse quantitatis, non videatur eas oportere in unum coadunare et introducere modos, per quos non convaleant et in irritum devocentur, sed e contrario et plures intellegantur et singulae secundum sui naturam obtineant et monumentorum observatione non indigeant. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
If anyone, however, at different times should make many liberalities to the same person, each of which indeed does not exceed the legitimate quantity, but, composed into one and exaggerated in the aforesaid manner, seem to overflow and to be of a greater quantity, it should not be thought that they ought to be coadunated into one and modes introduced, by which they would not prevail and would be brought into nullity, but on the contrary they are to be understood as several, and each is to obtain according to its own nature and not to need the observance of records. <a 529 recited on the 7th in the new consistorium of the palace of iustiniani. d. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
Cum enim a veteribus super hac re variatum est, aliis multas aliis unam eas definientibus, nobis causa placuit humanior, ut et multae intellegantur et omnes validae, et hi qui liberalitates accipiunt sciant veros non falsos suos esse donatores. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
Since indeed among the ancients there was variation on this matter, some defining many of them, others a single one, the more humane position pleased us: that both many be understood and all be valid, and that those who receive liberalities may know their donors to be true, not false. <a 529 recited on the seventh in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
Si quis autem talem receperit donationem, in qua stipulatus fuerit annuam cuidam praestare quantitatem tantae summae, quae non excedit legitimum donationis modum, variabatur, utrum eum ex particulari donatione multas fecisse donationes existimandum est et eas actis non indigere, an ex totius stipulationis fundamento et fonte eius, ex quo annuae donationes profluxerunt, et unam esse eam donationem putandam et procul dubio monumentorum observatione vallandam. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
If, however, someone has received such a donation, in which he has stipulated to furnish to someone an annual quantity of such a sum as does not exceed the legitimate mode of a donation, it was disputed whether he is to be thought, from a particular donation, to have made many donations—and that these do not need acts (public records)—or whether, from the foundation of the whole stipulation and its source, from which the annual donations flowed forth, that donation is to be considered one, and, beyond doubt, to be fortified by the observance of documentary muniments. <a 529 recited on the seventh in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
Quod veteres quidem sat abundeque variaverunt, nos autem certa divisione concludimus, ut, si huiusmodi quidem fuerit donatio, ut intra vitam personarum stetur vel dantis vel accipientis, multae intellegantur donationes et liberae monumentorum observatione. incertus etenim fortunae exitus hoc nobis suggessit, ut possibile sit unius anni tantummodo vel brevioris vel etiam amplioris temporis metas supervivere vel donatorem vel eum qui donationem accepit, et ex hoc inveniri totam summam donationis non excedere legitimam quantitatem. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani.
What the ancients indeed varied quite sufficiently and abundantly, we, however, conclude with a fixed division: namely, if a donation be of such a kind that one abides within the life of the persons, either the giver’s or the recipient’s, multiple donations are to be understood, and they are free from the observance of instruments; for the uncertain outcome of fortune has suggested this to us—that it is possible that either the donor or the one who received the donation survives only the bounds of a single year, or of a shorter or even a longer time, and from this it is found that the whole sum of the donation does not exceed the legitimate quantity. <a 529 recited on the seventh in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian.
Sin autem etiam heredum ex utraque parte fuerit mentio, vel adiciatur tempus vitae vel donatoris vel qui donationem accipiet, tunc, quasi perpetuata donatione et continuatione eius magnam et opulentiorem eam efficiente, et una intellegatur et quasi densioribus donationibus cumulata excedere legitimum modum et omnimodo acta reposcere et aliter minime convalere. <a 529 recitata septimo in novo consistorio palatii iustiniani. d. iii k. nov.
But if, moreover, there is mention also of heirs on either side, or a term of life is added either of the donor or of the one who will receive the donation, then, as if the donation were made perpetual and its continuation made it greater and more opulent, it shall be understood as one, and, as though heaped up by denser donations, to exceed the lawful measure; and the transaction shall in every way be rescinded, and otherwise by no means be valid. <in the year 529 recited on the seventh in the new consistory of the palace of Justinian. on the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.
Si quis argentum donaverit certumque pondus nominaverit, non autem vasa vel generaliter vel specialiter expresserit, necessitatem ei imponi omnimodo praefatum pondus argenti dare, sive in vasis quibus voluerit, non tamen peioribus aestimatione massae, sive in ipsa aestimatione, quae pro massa rudi in illis locis frequentata est. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. xv k. april.
If anyone has donated silver and has named a definite weight, but has not specified the vessels either generally or specifically, a necessity is in every way imposed upon him to give the aforesaid weight of silver, either in vessels of whatever kind he wishes—yet not of a valuation worse than that of bullion—or at the very valuation which for raw mass (bullion) has been customary in those places. * Justinian Augustus to Julian, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April.
Si vero reditum certum ex possessionibus donaverit, non tamen nomina possessionum edixerit, necesse habere de sua substantia fundos tradere tantum reditum inferre valentes, quantum in donatione posuerit, in talibus tamen agris, qui nec omnibus quos habet in possessione anteponuntur nec deteriores omnibus sunt, sed status mediocris inveniuntur. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
If, however, he has donated a determinate revenue from possessions, yet has not specified the names of the possessions, he must deliver out of his own substance estates capable of yielding as much revenue as he set forth in the donation—yet in such fields as are neither preferred above all those which he has in possession nor inferior to all, but are found to be of middling condition. <a March 18, 530, at Constantinople, with Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Similique modo, si quis certum numerum servorum donaverit, non tamen et is nominatim servos inscripserit, et hic mediocris figurae servos tradere et neque tales, quos non habere magis quam habere prodest, nec iterum eos, qui omnem servorum familiam donatoris antecellunt: sed et hic mediocritas spectetur. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
In a similar manner, if anyone shall have donated a certain number of slaves, yet has not also inscribed the slaves by name, here too he must deliver slaves of middling quality, and neither such as it profits more not to have than to have, nor again those who surpass the donor’s entire household of slaves; but here too let the mean be observed. <a 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, consuls.>
Sin autem donator neque argentum neque servos habens vel non tantum quantum donavit fecerit eorum donationem, aestimationem in his celebrari pro eo quod deest, ita tamen, ut argenti quidem secundum quod praediximus aestimatio detur, in servis autem non amplius nec minus quindecim solidis quantitas pro singulis reddetur, in reditibus autem in quindecim annos aestimationem praestet. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, the donor, having neither silver nor slaves, or not so much as he donated, has made a donation of them, a valuation shall be effected in these for what is lacking; nevertheless, as regards silver, let the valuation be given according to what we have said above; but as regards slaves, the amount to be rendered shall be neither more nor less than fifteen solidi for each individual; and as regards revenues, let him provide a valuation for fifteen years. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Sed in his omnibus, si quidem intra legitimam summam donatio fiat, nulla monumenta requirantur: sin autem amplioris summae, tunc ad acta publica decurratur, ita ut in his, quae amplioris sunt aestimationis, secundum nostram legem non totum, sed solum superfluum evanescat. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But in all these matters, if indeed the donation is made within the lawful sum, no documents shall be required; but if for a greater sum, then let recourse be had to the public acts, such that in those which are of greater valuation, according to our law not the whole, but only the surplus shall vanish. <a 530 d. 15 k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Sed et si quis universitatis faciat donationem, sive bessis sive dimidiae partis suae substantiae sive tertiae sive quartae sive quantaecumque vel etiam totius, si non de inofficiosis donationibus ratio ad hoc reclamaverit, coartari donatorem legis nostrae auctoritate tantum quantum donavit praestare: observatione et hic monumentorum secundum quod iam sanximus omnimodo requirenda. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But also, if anyone should make a donation of a universality, whether of two‑thirds or of a half of his substance, or of a third or a fourth or of whatever amount, or even of the whole, if no consideration concerning undutiful donations raises objection to this, let the donor be constrained by the authority of our law to provide only as much as he has donated: and here too the observance of documentary instruments is in every way to be required, according to what we have already sanctioned. <a AD 530, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sin autem hoc minime donator expresserit, si quidem stipulatio donationi inserta sit, ex eius auctoritate traditionem compelli fieri. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if the donor has in no way expressed this, then, if indeed a stipulation has been inserted into the donation, the tradition (delivery) is to be compelled to be effected by its authority. <given at Constantinople on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, in the year 530, in the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
Sin vero et hoc praetermissum sit et usum fructum minime detinuerit, nihilo minus ex lege nostra necessitatem ei imponi etiam tradere hoc quod donare existimavit, ut non ex hoc inutilis sit donatio, quod res non traditae sunt, nec confirmetur ex traditione donatio, sed liberalitatem plenam et secundum legem nostram perfectissimam constitutam necessarius traditionis effectus sequatur, et necessitatem habeat donator omnimodo res vel partem substantiae quam nominaverit vel totam substantiam tradere. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if indeed even this has been omitted and he has in no way retained the usufruct, nonetheless by our law a necessity is imposed upon him also to deliver that which he thought to donate, so that the donation is not for this reason ineffective, namely that the things have not been delivered, nor is the donation confirmed by tradition (delivery), but, the liberality having been constituted full and, according to our law, most perfect, the necessary effect of tradition follows, and the donor must in every way deliver the things, or the part of the substance (estate) which he has named, or the whole substance. <in the year 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, with Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, as consuls.>
Cum enim in arbitrio cuiuscumque sit hoc facere quod instituit, oportet eum vel minime ad hoc prosilire vel, cum ad hoc venire properavit, non quibusdam excogitatis artibus suum propositum defraudare tantamque indevotionem quibusdam quasi legitimis velamentis protegere. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
For since it is within anyone’s discretion to do what he has instituted, he ought either not at all to leap forth to this, or, when he has hastened to come to it, not to defraud his purpose by certain excogitated arts nor to cover such indevotion with certain quasi-legitimate veils. <a 530 d. 15 k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Tantoque magis haec firma esse, si piis actibus vel religiosis personis donatio deputata sit ( monumentorum observatione in his modis secundum quod specialiter a nobis in huiusmodi casibus praedictum est observanda), ne in praefatis causis ex quibusdam machinationibus non solum indevotus, sed etiam impius donator intellegatur poenasque non solum legitimas, sed etiam caelestes expectet. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And all the more should these be firm, if the donation has been deputed to pious acts or to religious persons (the observance of the monuments in these modes being to be observed according to what has been specially stated by us in cases of this kind), lest in the aforesaid causes, through certain machinations, the donor be understood not only as indevout but even impious, and expect penalties not only legitimate but also celestial. <year 530, on the 15th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Resque donatas in omnibus supra dictis casibus non solum eos, dum supersunt, sed etiam eorum successores reddere compelli, non tantum his, in quos donatio facta est, sed etiam eorum heredibus. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And the things donated, in all the aforesaid cases, are to be compelled to be restored not only by those persons, while they still survive, but also by their successors, not only to those to whom the donation was made, but also to their heirs. <a 530 d. xv k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Si quis pro redemptione captivorum pecunias dederit sive per cautionem dare promiserit cuiuscumque quantitatis, cognoscat se neque repetitionem habere neque exactionem cautionis posse declinare, utpote gestis sicut in donationibus non subsecutis super insinuatione eiusdem quantitatis: eo videlicet, qui pecunias accepit vel prima vice vel post cautionem, necessitatem habente piissimam administrationem adimplere, nulla ei molestia vel inquietudine inferenda vel ab eo qui pecunias praebuit vel ab aliis ex legum auctoritate permissis hoc requirere, sed tantummodo sacramentum praestare, quod re vera omnem quantitatem sine dolo vel aliqua deminutione ad redemptionem dederit captivorum. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. xv k. nov.
If anyone, for the redemption of captives, has given moneys or has promised to give by a caution (bond) of whatever amount, let him know that he has neither a repetition (recovery) nor can he evade the exaction of the caution, since protocols have been drawn up, as in donations not followed up, concerning the insinuation (official entry) of the same amount: namely, that he who received the moneys, either the first time or after the caution, being under the necessity to fulfill the most pious administration, is to have no annoyance or disturbance brought upon him, either by the one who furnished the moneys or by others permitted by the authority of the laws to require this, but only to render an oath that in very truth he has given the whole amount without fraud or any diminishment for the redemption of captives. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 531, day 15 before the Kalends of November.
Simili etiam modo gestorum absolvimus ordinatione donationes rerum mobilium vel sese moventium, quas viri gloriosissimi magistri militum fortissimis praestant militibus tam ex sua substantia quam ex spoliis hostium, sive in ipsa bellorum occupatione sive in quibuscumque locis degere noscuntur. <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestis vv. cc.>
In a similar manner as well, we complete by an ordination in the records (gesta) the donations of movable things or of things moving themselves, which the most glorious Masters of the Soldiers grant to the bravest soldiers, both from their own substance and from the spoils of the enemies, whether in the very occupation of wars or in whatever places they are known to be dwelling. <a 531, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November (October 18), at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Eandem liberalitatem nostrae legis indulgemus etiam his, quorum incendio vel ruina domus corruptae sunt, quibusdam forte pecunias cuiuscumque quantitatis praebentibus vel cautionem conficientibus, ut et ipsi nec repetitionem timeant, verum etiam exactionem pecuniarum confessioni insertarum facere possint, licet non gesta fuerint subsecuta: nulla eis licentia danda pecunias ad alias causas nisi ad refectionem domorum erogare. quod si aliqua dubitatio orta fuerit, utrum tota quantitas an pars eius in aedificiis expensa est, hoc domini domus sacramento dirimetur. <a 531 d. xv k. nov.
We grant the same liberality of our law also to those whose houses have been corrupted by fire or by ruin, certain persons perhaps furnishing moneys of whatever quantity or drawing up a caution, so that they themselves both may not fear repetition and may even be able to make exaction of the moneys inserted in the confession, although the public acts (gesta) have not followed: no license is to be given them to expend the moneys for other causes except for the refection of the houses. But if any doubt should arise whether the whole quantity or a part of it has been spent on the edifices, this shall be determined by the oath of the owner of the house. <a 531 d. 15 k. nov.
Ceteris etiam donationibus, quae gestis intervenientibus minime sunt insinuatae, sine aliqua distinctione quingentos usque ad solidos valituris. hoc etenim tantummodo ad augendas huiusmodi donationes addendum esse ex praesenti lege decernimus: anteriore tempore nostra lege praecedente moderando, qua usque trecentos solidos factae donationes et sine insinuatione firmitatem obtinere iussae sunt. <a 531 d. xv k. nov.
Even for other donations as well, which, with the public records intervening, have in no way been insinuated (formally registered), they shall, without any distinction, be valid up to 500 solidi. For we decree by this present law that only this is to be added for the augmentation of donations of this kind: the earlier time being governed by our preceding law, by which donations made up to 300 solidi, even without insinuation, were ordered to obtain firmness. <a 531, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November.
Verba superflua, quae in donationibus poni solebant, id est sestertii nummi unius assium quattuor, penitus esse reicienda censemus. quid enim verbis opus est, quae rerum effectus nullus sequitur? sancimus itaque nullo modo eorum mentionem vel in imperialibus donationibus vel in aliis omnibus de cetero fieri, sed et si quisquam per verbositatem aliquid tale inscripserit sive remiserit, nulla differentia sit.
We deem that superfluous words, which used to be set in donations, that is, “one sestertius coin of four asses,” are to be utterly rejected. For what need is there of words which no effect in fact follows? We therefore sanction that mention of them in no way be made either in imperial donations or in all others henceforth; and even if anyone, through verbosity, has inscribed or remitted anything of the sort, let there be no difference.
Si doceas, ut adfirmas, nepti tuae ea lege a te esse donatum, ut certa tibi alimenta praeberet, vindicationem etiam hoc casu utilem eo. quod legi illa obtemperare noluerit, impetrare potes, id est actionem, qua dominium pristinum restituatur tibi. * valer. et gallien.
If you can show, as you affirm, that it was donated by you to your granddaughter under this term, that she should provide you with certain maintenance, you can obtain, even in this case, the vindication as available, because she was unwilling to obey the condition—that is, the action by which your former ownership is restored to you. * Valerian and Gallienus.
Si praediorum proprietatem dono dedisti ita, ut post mortem eius qui accepit ad te rediret, donatio valet, cum etiam ad tempus certum vel incertum ea fieri potest, lege scilicet quae ei imposita est conservanda. * diocl. et maxim.
If you have given the proprietorship of estates as a donation in such a way that, after the death of the one who received it, it returns to you, the donation is valid, since it can also be made for a definite or an indefinite time, with the condition, namely, that has been imposed upon it, to be observed. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Quotiens donatio ita conficitur, ut post tempus id quod donatum est alii restituatur, veteris iuris auctoritate rescriptum est, si is in quem liberalitatis compendium conferebatur stipulatus non sit, placiti fide non impleta, ei qui liberalitatis auctor fuit vel heredibus eius condicticiae actionis persecutionem competere. * diocl. et maxim.
Whenever a donation is concluded on such terms that, after a time, that which was donated is to be restored to another, by the authority of the old law it has been determined by rescript that, if the one upon whom the benefit of the liberality was being conferred did not stipulate, the faith of the pact not having been fulfilled, the pursuit of an action by condictio is competent to him who was the author of the liberality or to his heirs. * diocl. and maxim.
Sed cum postea benigna iuris interpretatione divi principes ei qui stipulatus non sit utilem actionem iuxta donatoris voluntatem competere admiserint, actio, quae sorori tuae, si in rebus humanis ageret, competebat, tibi accommodabitur. <a 290 pp.Sirmi xi k.Oct.Ipsis iiii et iii aa. conss.>
But since afterwards, by a benign interpretation of the law, the deified princes have admitted that a useful action, in accordance with the donor’s will, would lie for one who has not stipulated, the action which would have been available to your sister, if she were still among the living, will be afforded to you. <year 290, posted at Sirmium, on the 11th day before the Kalends of October. The same Augusti, consuls for the 4th and 3rd time.>
Si quid mater filiae suae in potestate patris constitutae sub hac condicione, si fuerit intra biennium emancipata, donavit, licet hoc matris voluntate sui iuris effecta non tenuit, tamen prius marito defuncto sui iuris quocumque modo effecta ad similitudinem legati ita relicti rem donatam firmiter habere vel vindicare potest. * diocl. et maxim.
If a mother donated anything to her daughter, who was constituted under the father’s power, under this condition, that she be emancipated within two years, although, having by the mother’s will become sui iuris, this did not hold, nevertheless, earlier, her husband having died, having in whatever way become sui iuris, she can, in the likeness of a legacy so left, firmly have or vindicate the donated thing. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Etsi perfectis donationibus in possessionem inductus libertus quantolibet tempore ea quae sibi donata sunt pleno iure ut dominus possederit, tamen, si ingratus sit, omnis donatio mutata patronorum voluntate revocanda sit. * philipp. a. agilio cosmiano.
Although, after perfected donations, a freedman inducted into possession has possessed, for whatever length of time, the things donated to him with full right as an owner, nevertheless, if he is ungrateful, every donation, with the patrons’ will changed, must be revoked. * philip, augustus, to agilius cosmianus.
Nam qui obsequiis suis liberalitatem patronorum provocaverunt, non sunt digni, qui eam retineant, cum coeperint obsequia neglegere, cum magis in eos collata liberalitas ad obsequium inclinare debet quam ad insolentiam erigere. <a 249 d xv k.Iul.Aemiliano et aquilino conss.>
For those who have provoked the liberality of their patrons by their services are not worthy to retain it, when they begin to neglect their services, since the liberality conferred upon them ought to incline them toward obsequy rather than raise them to insolence. <a 249 d 15 k.Iul.Aemiliano et aquilino conss.>
Hoc tamen ius stabit intra ipsos tantum, qui liberalitatem dederunt. ceterum neque filii eorum neque successores ad hoc beneficium pertinebunt: neque enim fas est ullo modo inquietari donationes, quas is qui donaverat in diem vitae suae non retractavit. <a 249 d xv k.Iul.Aemiliano et aquilino conss.>
This right, however, shall remain confined to those very persons who granted the liberality. Moreover, neither their sons nor their successors will come within this benefit; for it is not right in any way that donations be disturbed which the donor did not revoke during his lifetime. <a 249 d 15 k.Iul.Aemiliano et aquilino conss.>
Si apud provinciae praesidem aviam filiae tuae quasi paenitentia ductam subtracta instrumenta donationum igni exussisse constiterit, vereri te non oportet, ne id, quod iure vires acceperat, ex post facto possit in dubium revocari. * probus a. felici. * <a 277 pp. iii non.
If before the provincial governor it has been established that the grandmother of your daughter, as if led by penitence, after removing the instruments of the donations, burned them with fire, you ought not to fear that that which had received legal force can be recalled into doubt ex post facto. * probus a. to felix. * <a 277 pp. 3 non.
Velles nec ne filio tuo praedia itemque mancipia donare, fuit initio tibi liberum. desine itaque postulare, ut donatio quam perfeceras revocetur sub praetextu mariti ac liberorum absentiae, cum huius firmitas ipsorum praesentia non indigeret. * diocl.
Whether you wished or not to donate estates and likewise slaves to your son, it was at the outset within your power. Cease therefore to petition that the donation which you had completed be revoked under the pretext of the absence of the husband and the children, since the validity of this did not require their presence. * diocl.
His solis matribus, quae non in secundi matrimonii foedus nupserint, sed unius tantum matrimonii sunt, revocandarum donationum quas in filios fecerint ita decernimus facultatem, si in eos ingratos circa se esse ostenderint. * constantius et constans aa. ad philippum pp. * <a 349 d.Xii k. oct. limenio et catullino conss.>
To these mothers alone, who have not entered into the bond of a second marriage, but are of only a single marriage, we thus decree the faculty of revoking the donations which they have made to their children, if they shall have shown them to be ungrateful toward themselves. * constantius and constans, augusti, to philippus, praetorian prefect. * <a 349 on the 12th day before the Kalends of October, under the consuls limenius and catullinus.>
Ceterum quae ante adhuc matre pacifica iure perfecta sunt et ante inchoatum coeptumque iurgium vendita donata mutata in dotem data ceterisque causis legitime alienata, minime revocamus. <a 349 d.Xii k. oct. limenio et catullino conss.>
Furthermore, whatever, while the mother was still pacific, were perfected in law, and, before the lawsuit was inchoated and commenced, were sold, donated, converted into a dowry, bestowed, and, for other causes, lawfully alienated, we by no means revoke. <a 349 d.12 k. oct. limenio et catullino conss.>
De ceteris autem, quae portentuosae vilitatis abiectaeque pudicitiae sunt, satis etiam tacite cautum putamus. quis est enim, qui his aliquid arbitretur tribuendum esse, cum etiam illis, quae iure, secundas tamen contraxerunt nuptias, nihil ex his privilegiis tributum esse vellemus? <a 349 d.Xii k. oct.
But as for the rest, which are of monstrous vility and cast‑off pudicity, we think it has been sufficiently provided for even tacitly. For who is there who would judge that anything should be granted to these, when even to those who by right have nevertheless contracted second marriages we would wish that nothing of these privileges be bestowed? <a 349 d.12 k. oct.
Si umquam libertis patronus filios non habens bona omnia vel partem aliquam facultatum fuerit donatione largitus et postea susceperit liberos, totum quidquid largitus fuerit revertatur in eiusdem donatoris arbitrio ac dicione mansurum. * constantius et constans aa. ad orfitum pu. * <a 355 d.V k.April.Arbitione et lolliano conss.>
If ever a patron, not having sons, shall have bestowed by donation upon freedmen all his goods or some part of his means, and afterward shall have received children, let the whole of whatever he bestowed return to remain in the discretion and dominion of that same donor. * Constantius and Constans, Augusti, to Orfitus, Urban Prefect. *
Donationes circa filium filiamve, nepotem neptemve, pronepotem proneptemve emancipatos celebratas pater seu avus vel proavus revocare non poterit nisi edoctis manifestissimis causis, quibus eam personam in quam collata donatio est contra ipsam venire pietatem et ex causis quae legibus continentur fuisse constabit ingratam. * theodos. et valentin.
Donations made concerning an emancipated son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, great‑grandson or great‑granddaughter cannot be revoked by the father, or grandfather, or great‑grandfather, unless, with the most manifest causes having been shown, it shall be established that the person upon whom the donation was conferred has, contrary to piety itself, been ungrateful, and for causes that are contained in the laws. * Theodosius and Valentinian.
Generaliter sancimus omnes donationes lege confectas firmas illibatasque manere, si non donationis acceptor ingratus circa donatorem inveniatur, ita ut iniurias atroces in eum effundat vel manus impias inferat vel iacturae molem ex insidiis suis ingerat, quae non levem sensum substantiae donatoris imponit vel vitae periculum aliquid ei intulerit vel quasdam conventiones sive in scriptis donationi impositas sive sine scriptis habitas, quas donationis acceptor spopondit, minime implere voluerit. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d.Xv k.April.Constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
We decree in general that all donations executed by law shall remain firm and inviolate, unless the recipient of the donation be found ungrateful toward the donor, such that he pours out outrageous injuries against him, or lays impious hands upon him, or, from his own treacheries, thrusts upon him a mass of loss which imposes no slight impairment upon the donor’s substance, or has brought upon him some peril to life, or is unwilling in the least to fulfill certain agreements, either set in writing upon the donation or held without writings, which the recipient of the donation had promised. * Justinian Augustus to Julianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 530 d.15 k.April.Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Ex his enim tantummodo causis, si fuerint in iudicio dilucidis argumentis cognitionaliter adprobatae, etiam donationes in eos factas everti concedimus, ne sit cuidam licentia et alienas res capere et fragilitatem ridere donatoris et iterum ipsum donatorem suasque res perdere et praefatis malis ab ingrato donationis acceptore adfici. <a 530 d.Xv k.April.Constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
For from these causes only, if they shall have been in judgment approved by clear arguments by way of cognition, we grant that even donations made to them may be overturned, lest anyone have license both to seize others’ property and to laugh at the donor’s fragility, and again for the donor himself to lose his own goods and to be affected by the aforesaid evils by an ungrateful recipient of the donation. <a 530 d.Xv k.April.Constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Haec tamen usque ad primas personas tantummodo stare censemus, nulla licentia concedenda donatoris successoribus huiusmodi querimoniarum primordium instituere. etenim si ipse qui haec passus est tacuit, silentium eius maneat semper et non a posteritate eius suscitari concedatur vel adversus ipsum qui ingratus esse dicitur vel adversus eius successionem. <a 530 d.Xv k.April.Constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Nevertheless we judge that these provisions stand only up to the first persons, with no license to be granted to the donor’s successors to institute the inception of querimonies of this kind. For indeed, if he himself who has suffered these things kept silent, let his silence remain forever, and let it not be permitted to be stirred up by his posterity either against the very person who is said to be ungrateful or against his succession. <a 530 d.Xv k.April.Constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Nec tamen ea post mortem filii tui, ex quo quaesierat filiam, alii nuptui se collocando dotem dans prohibebatur quam vellet condicionem eidem doti dicere. <a 239 pp.X k.Febr.Gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
Nor, however, after the death of your son, by whom she had had a daughter, was she prohibited, by placing herself in marriage to another and giving a dowry, from stating whatever condition she wished for that same dowry. <a 239 published on the 10th day before the Kalends of February, in the consulate of Gordianus Augustus and Aviola.>
Sed si mortis causa donationem in fratrem suum conferens in casum mortis suae eam dotem eundem fratrem suum stipulari passa est, cum divi severi constitutione etiam in mortis causa donationibus, si de cetero patrimonio quantum falcidia iubet heres non habet, provisum sit, is qui nurui tuae heres extiterit eius constitutionis beneficium non prohibebitur postulare. <a 239 pp.X k.Febr.Gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
But if, bestowing a mortis causa donation upon her brother, she allowed that same brother to stipulate for that dowry in the event of her death, since by the constitution of the deified Severus it has been provided that even in mortis causa donations, if the heir does not have from the remaining patrimony as much as the Falcidian portion orders, the one who has become heir to your daughter-in-law will not be prohibited from requesting the benefit of that constitution. <a 239 pp.10 k.Febr.Gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
Cum de mortis causa donatione dubitabatur et alii quidem inter ultimas voluntates eam posuerunt et legatis adgregandam esse censuerunt, alii autem inter donationes quae inter vivos consistunt eam posuerunt, dubietate eorum explosa sancimus omnes mortis causa donationes, sive iuxta mortem facientis fuerint celebratae sive longiore cogitatione mortis subsecutae sunt, actis minime indigere neque exspectare publicarum personarum praesentiam et ea quae super huiusmodi monumentis solent adhiberi. sed ita res procedat, ut, si quinque testibus praesentibus vel in scriptis vel sine litterarum suppositione aliquis voluerit mortis causa donationem facere, et sine monumentorum accessione res gesta maneat firmitate v allata et nullam calumniam accipiat neque propter hoc, quod gesta ei non accesserunt, inefficax esse atque inutilis videatur et omnes effectus sortiatur, quos ultimae habent liberalitates, nec ex quacumque parte absimiles esse intellegantur. * iust.
Since, when a donation mortis causa was in doubt, some indeed placed it among last wills and judged that it ought to be added to legacies, while others placed it among donations which subsist inter vivos, with their doubt exploded we enact that all donations mortis causa, whether they were celebrated near to the death of the maker or followed upon a longer deliberation about death, have no need at all of acts, nor await the presence of public persons and those things which are wont to be applied over instruments of this kind. But let the matter proceed thus: if, with five witnesses present, whether in writings or without the subposition of letters, someone should wish to make a donation mortis causa, even without the accession of instruments the transacted matter shall remain fortified with firmness and incur no cavillation, nor, because the formal acts have not been added to it, seem ineffective and useless; and it shall obtain all the effects which last liberalities have, nor be understood to be unlike them in any respect. * iust.
Qui iure veteri caelibes habebantur, imminentibus legum terroribus liberentur atque ita vivant, ac si numero maritorum matrimonii foedere fulcirentur, sitque omnibus aequa condicio capessendi quod quisque mereatur. nec vero quisquam orbus habeatur: proposita huic nomini damna non noceant. * const.
Those who by the old law were accounted celibates, let them be freed from the imminent terrors of the laws and live as though they were supported in the number of married men by the covenant of matrimony, and let there be for all an equal condition for taking up whatever each one merits. Nor indeed let anyone be held childless: let the penalties set forth for this designation not harm. * const.
Inter virum et uxorem rationem cessare ex lege papia decimarum et, quamvis non interveniant liberi, ex suis quoque eos solidum capere testamentis, nisi forte lex alia minuerit derelicta, decernimus. tantum igitur post haec maritus vel uxor sibi invicem derelinquant, quantum superstes amor exegerit. * honor.
Between a man and a wife we decree that the reckoning of the tenths under the Papian law shall cease, and that, although children do not intervene, they too may take the solid (i.e., the whole) from their own testaments, unless perhaps another law has diminished the bequests left. Therefore, after this, let husband or wife leave to one another as much as surviving love shall have demanded. * honor.
Illam iniuriam, quae contra matrem defuncti vel defunctae prateritis fiebat temporibus, pro iustitiae ratione amputamus et legitima iura, quae ex tertulliano senatus consulto ei praestantur, omnimodo eam habere sancimus, licet tres liberos ingenua vel libertina quattuor minime pepererit. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. k. iun.
We cut off, on the principle of justice, that injury which in past times was being done against the mother of the deceased man or woman, and we decree that she shall in every way have the legitimate rights which are afforded to her by the Tertullian senatus consultum, although she has not borne three children if freeborn, or, if a freedwoman, four. * Justinian Augustus to Mena, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 528 on the Kalends of June.