XV.

DE VERBORUM OBLIGATIONE.

Verbis obligatio contrahitur ex interrogatione et responsu, cum quid dari fierive nobis stipulamur. ex qua duae proficiscuntur actiones, tam condictio, si certa sit stipulatio, quam ex stipulatu, si incerta. quae hoc nomine inde utitur, quia stipulum apud veteres firmum appellabatur, forte a stipite descendens.

facis, possum condicere, aut si me poeniteat, condicere possum' Dig. 12. 4. 3. 2.

That the general principle was only gradually developed is clear from a comparison of Dig. 19. 5. 5. 3 with 9. 15 and 22 of the same Title, and with Cod. 2. 4. 6; in the first of these passages Paulus says the actio praescriptis verbis will not lie in a case of facio ut des, in the others it is held applicable, so that probably it may be inferred that for some while only those agreements were enforceable by this remedy in which the past performance by which the action was supported was a conveyance (dare).

The commonest examples of innominate contract are permutatio, exchange, for which see Tit. 23. 2 infr.: aestimatum, the acceptance of property valued at a certain maximum under the condition of either returning it or paying the price at which it is valued: 'actio de aestimato proponitur tollendae dubitationis gratia, fuit enim magis dubitatum cum res aestimata vendenda datur, utrum ex vendito sit actio propter aestimationem, an ex locato, quasi rem vendendam locasse videar, an ex conducto, quasi operas conduxissem, an mandati: melius itaque visum est, hanc actionem proponi : quoties enim de nomine contractus ambigeretur, conveniret tamen aliquam actionem dari, dandam aestimatoriam praescriptis verbis actionem' Dig. 19. 13. 1. pr.: transactio or compromise, Dig. 2. 15, Cod. 2. 4, and precarium or permissive occupancy, at any rate in the later stages of the law: 'cum quid precario rogatum est, non solum interdicto uti possumus, sed et incerti condictione, id est, praescriptis verbis' Dig. 43. 26. 19. 2. But the practical value of the actio praescriptis verbis is best realized in cases which cannot certainly be regarded as within the principle of any named (i. e. real or consensual) contract, and in which the jurists said 'tutius esse, praescriptis verbis agere' Dig. 19. 3. 1. pr., cited supr., Tit. 24. 2 inf., Dig. 4. 3. 9. 3; 13. 6. 13. 2; 18. 1. 50, etc.

Tit. XV. As forms of verbal contract, distinct from stipulatio, are usually mentioned dotis dictio, votum, and iurata promissio liberti. The first, which had disappeared before Justinian, was the constitution of a dos in solemn form, open only to the woman with her guardian's auctoritas, her father or paternal ascendant, and her debtor acting by her instructions (Ulpian, reg. 6. 2, Cic. pro Flacco 35. 86, pro Caec. 25. 72),

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In hac re olim talia verba tradita fuerunt: spondes? spondeo, promittis? promitto, fidepromittis? fidepromitto,

but binding only if accepted; the form is preserved in Terence, Andr. 5. 4. 47 'Chr. dos, Pamphile, est decem talenta; P. accipio ;' on which we have the commentary, 'ille nisi dixisset accipio dos non esset: datio enim ab acceptione confirmatur, nec potest videri datum id, quod non acceptum cf. Seneca, controv. 1. 6 'quidam dictas non accepere dotes.' Votum was a mere promise (pollicitatio) made for a religious purpose, or in favour of a church or pious foundation, Dig. 4. 12. 2. Lastly, a freedman on manumission could effectually bind himself to certain services to his patron by mere oath, Dig. 38. 1. 7, which between ordinary persons imposed no actionable obligation whatever: cf. Tit. 10. 1 and note supr.

But the verbal contract κar' ¿§oxý is stipulation, a unilateral disposition in which the promisor bound himself by returning an oral, affirmative answer to the oral question of the promisee (stipulator), Cic. pro Caec. 3. Its essence lies, at any rate in the later periods of Roman law, not in the necessity of observing prescribed forms of words, but in the substantial correspondence between question and answer, and in the formal requirement of the presence of both parties: see on Tit. 19. 12 inf. This is no special kind of contract, differing from others in the sense in which sale differs from hire, or deposit from pledge; it is only a universal form into which any conceivable agreement can be thrown, and into which they frequently were thrown (even though actionable in themselves, e.g. sale, apart from the form) on account of the great superiority to creditors which stipulation possessed over the real and consensual contracts, except mutuum, in the nature of the action by which it could be enforced. That action, as is said in the text, was condictio: 'the short and sharp remedy' (as Mr. Poste calls it) which, when brought for certa pecunia credita, was the more formidable to a dishonest litigant, as it was accompanied by a sponsio poenalis, whereby the vanquished party forfeited a third of the sum in litigation, in addition, if he was defendant, to the original claim.' The action on the real and consensual contracts, on the other hand, was bonae fidei, and in many points favoured the defendant: see on Bk. iv. 6. 28 infr. For the difference between condictio certi, condictio triticaria, and actio ex stipulatu, see Gaius iv. 136, and references s. v. 'condictio' in the General Index.

Ihering (§ 46. note 747) considers Justinian's derivation of stipulatio from stipulum, in the sense of 'firm,' 'settled,' to be correct. Savigny connects it with stips, and uses Festus' interpretation of the word. (stipem esse nummum signatum, testimonium esse et id, quod datur stipendium militi, et cum spondetur pecunia, quod stipulari dicitur) to support his theory that stipulation in origin rested on the fiction of a money loan. On the other hand, Isidorus says (Orig. 4. 24) 'dicta stipulatio a stipula: veteres enim, quando sibi aliquid promittebant, stipulam tenentes frangebant, quam iterum iungentes, sponsiones suas agnoscebant.'

§ 1. The only form in which a stipulation could be originally concluded

fideiubes? fideiubeo, dabis? dabo, facies? faciam. utrum autem Latina an Graeca vel qua alia lingua stipulatio concipiatur, nihil interest, scilicet si uterque stipulantium intellectum huius linguae habeat: nec necesse est eadem lingua. utrumque uti, sed sufficit congruenter ad interrogatum respondere: quin etiam duo Graeci Latina lingua obligationem contrahere possunt. sed haec sollemnia verba olim quidem in usu fuerunt: postea autem Leoniana constitutio lata est, quae sollemnitate verborum sublata sensum et consonantem intellectum ab utraque parte solum desiderat, licet quibuscumque verbis expressus est.

Omnis stipulatio aut pure aut in diem aut sub condicione 2 fit. pure veluti 'quinque aureos dare spondes?' idque con

was 'spondes? spondeo.' So long as this was the case the contract was strictly iuris civilis, and no one could be a party to it who was not a civis : in fact, Gaius says, so peculiarly Roman was this form, that it could not even be expressed in Greek, 'quamvis dicatur a Graeca voce figurata esse' (Festus, s. v. spondere, σñévdw, σñovồý), and he proceeds (iii. 94) to criticise as nimium subtiliter dictum' the opinion of those who held that there was an exception to this rule when the Roman emperor concluded a treaty of peace with an independent foreign monarch; for, as he adds, 'si quid adversus pactionem fiat, non ex stipulatu agitur, sed iure belli res vindicatur.' The other forms mentioned in the text, however, were iuris gentium, Gaius iii. 93, and therefore were open to peregrini no less than to cives, though it does not seem that in Gaius' time they might be expressed in any language; he mentions only Greek and Latin. The constitution of Leo, referred to in the text, and issued A. D. 469, ran 'omnes stipulationes, etiamsi non sollennibus vel directis sed quibuscunque verbis consensu contrahentium compositae sunt legibus cognitae suam habeant firmitatem' Cod. 8. 38. 10. Perhaps as a gradual result of this enactment (cf. Cod. 2. 56. 4. 6) the necessity for the simultaneous presence of the parties, and for the oral question and answer, was practically dispensed with; in other words, if two parties residing in different places proposed to enter into a contract by stipulation, this could be effected, without their meeting, by the intended promisor (or both, if the contract was bilateral) signing a paper stating that he had promised; from the signature arose the legal presumption that the promise had been given in answer to a preceding question: 'si scriptum in instrumento fuerit promisisse aliquem, perinde habetur atque si interrogatione praecedente responsum sit' Tit. 19. 17 inf.; though this presumption could be rebutted, if the promisor chose to be dishonest, by express proof of an alibi, Tit. 19. 12 inf. For a fuller explanation of the legal force of such papers see Excursus VIII. (on Tit. 21) at the end of this Book.

§ 2. For condicio and dies see on Bk. i. 20 1 supr., and for the ex

festim peti potest. in diem, cum adiecto die quo pecunia solvatur stipulatio fit: veluti 'decem aureos primis kalendis Martiis dare spondes?' id autem, quod in diem stipulamur, statim quidem debetur, sed peti prius quam dies veniat non potest: ac ne eo quidem ipso die, in quem stipulatio facta est, peti potest, quia totus dies arbitrio solventis tribui debet. neque enim certum est eo die, in quem promissum est, datum 3 non esse, priusquam praetereat. At si ita stipuleris decem aureos annuos quoad vivam dare spondes?' et pure facta obligatio intellegitur et perpetuatur, quia ad tempus deberi non potest. sed heres petendo pacti exceptione submove

pressions dies cedit, dies venit, on Bk. ii. 20. 20. The sense in which Justinian here uses the phrase in diem is not uniform: 'circa diem duplex inspectio est: nam vel ex die incipit obligatio, aut confertur in diem: ex die, veluti Kal. Martiis dare spondes? cuius natura haec est, ut ante diem non exigatur, ad diem autem "usque ad Kalendas dare spondes?" The confusion perhaps arises from the fact that where a stipulation is ex die, in the sense of the passage cited, the solutio is 'dilata in diem,' as is said in Dig. 45. 1. 46. pr. The rule laid down by Justinian about such promises may be otherwise expressed by saying that until the arrival of the dies the obligatio is naturalis only, and cannot be sued upon; but if the promisor voluntarily pays before the time, he cannot recover what he has paid as indebitum, and there is a commodum repraesentationis (ii. 20. 14 supr.) in favour of the promisee; 'in diem debitor adeo debitor est, ut ante diem solutum repetere non possit' Dig. 12. 6. 10. With the latter part of the section cf. Tit. 19. 26 inf.

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§ 3. Mr. Hunter (Roman Law p. 465) seems to be wrong in affirming this rule of obligations generally, in spite of the universality of the expression ad diem deberi non potest.' In fact, it is true only of stipulation, and its reason is the strict nature of the contract, in which the intention was less regarded than the words. It has no application to legacies, for ' in condicionibus testamentorum voluntatem potius quam verba considerari oporteat Dig. 35. 1. 101. pr.; accordingly a bequest of an annuity for a person's lifetime was construed as a number of separate bequests, that of the first annual payment being made 'pure,' the following ones under the suspensive condition of the legatees living to the day on which they respectively fell due, Dig. 38. 1. 4; ib. 8; 36. 2. 10. For a case of innominate contract in conflict with Mr. Hunter cf. Dig. 2. 14. 53. 2 'de inofficioso patris testamento acturis, ut eis certa quantitas, quoad viveret heres, praestaretur, pactus est: produci ad perpetuam praestationem id pactum postulabatur: rescriptum est neque iure ullo neque aequitate tale desiderium admitti.' Even before the introduction of the exceptiones pacti and doli the harsh result of the rule might be avoided by couching the stipulation in a different form; instead of promising an

bitur. Sub condicione stipulatio fit, cum in aliquem casum 4 differtur obligatio, ut, si aliquid factum fuerit aut non fuerit, stipulatio committatur, veluti si Titius consul factus fuerit, quinque aureos dare spondes?' si quis ita stipuletur 'si in Capitolium non ascendero, dare spondes?' perinde erit, ac si stipulatus esset cum morietur dari sibi. ex condicionali stipulatione tantum spes est debitum iri, eamque ipsam spem transmittimus, si, priusquam condicio existat, mors nobis

annuity of 100 aurei for five years, 500 might be promised in five equal shares ex die; or instead of promising 100 per annum for a person's lifetime, a number of separate promises of 100 might be made ex die, each under the suspensive condition of the promisee's living to such or such a birthday.

§ 4. We have seen (§ 2 supr.) that an immediate, though not necessarily a civil, obligation arose from a promise ex die; e. g. Kalendis Martiis dare spondes? A promise made subject to a suspensive condition—e. g. si Titius consul fuerit factus-might at first sight seem to have no legal effect at all: 'ante condicionem non recte agi, cum nihil ad interim debeatur Dig. 20. 1. 13. 5. Yet this is clearly not so in fact; for (1) it is said in the text that the promisee's hope of the condition being fulfilled, and of the debt so springing into actual existence, passes to his heres ; if the conditional promise had no effect until condicio existit there could be nothing to pass to the heir at all, cf. Tit. 19. 25 inf. It was otherwise with legacies, on account of their strictly personal nature: unless the condition were fulfilled before the legatee's decease the latter's heir was not benefited, Dig. 36. 2. 5. pr. and 2, Cod. 6. 51. 7; cf. note on Bk. ii. 20. 20 supr. (2) The person who will be bound to an act or forbearance on the fulfilment of the condition is unable by any act of his own to escape his possible liability in the future: pro tanto he is bound already. This may be illustrated by Dig. 17. 2. 27 'si (socius) sub condicione promiserat et distracta societate condicio extitit, ex communi solvendum est,' Dig. 45. 1. 78. pr. 'si filiusfamilias sub condicione stipulatus emancipatus fuerit, deinde extiterit condicio, patri actio competit;' cf. Dig. 20. 1. 13.5; 45. 3. 26. (3) Even more direct is Dig. 44. 7. 42. pr. ‘is, cui sub condicione legatum est, pendente condicione non est creditor, sed tunc cum extiterit condicio, quamvis eum, qui stipulatus est sub condicione, placet etiam pendente condicione creditorem esse.' Dig. 12. 6. 16, however, shows that the language here is unguarded, and that until the condition is fulfilled there was no real obligatio, even naturalis, for if payment were made pendente condicione the money could be recovered by condictio indebiti: cf. Dig. ib. 18; ib. 44; ib. 56. Thus the legal position of a promisee sub condicione is difficult to describe; there is as yet no obligation, and yet he is not absolutely without right; the effect of the promise until the condition is fulfilled is only, as Fitting calls it, 'preliminary' (Vorwirkung).