Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

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[7] TPSulp 48

I, Gaius Iulius Prudens, have written that I asked Gaius Sulpicius Cinnamus and entrusted him with the task of [paying out so much money] as he or Eros or [name missing] or Titianus or Martialis [his slaves] or Gaius Sulpicius Faustus or anyone else at the order request or commission of any of them gave, entrusted, promised, or offered security for, or assumed the risk for in any way to Suavis my freedman or Hyginus my slave or anyone else at their order. Gaius Sulpicius Cinnamus asked for a promise that as much be given [to him] as money was so given, entrusted, or assumed the obligation for in any way (as was listed above), and that there be no fraud attached to this promise now or in the future on my part or that of my heir and anyone else to whom this matter pertains, and that if there is fraud, its value be paid to him, and that these things be duly done and paid, and I, Gaius Iulius Prudens, promised. The crucial phrase “paying … money” near the beginning • is not actually in the text. Some such words were apparently left out and have to be guessed at. It is not clear whether this is a mere “typo” in the copying of a longish text or whether it represents a deeper problem with the drafting of such a complicated document. The “entrusting” at the beginning is not a mere request for a • favor, but a kind of contract. The party extracting the favor was legally responsible for paying the costs of having the favor carried out.

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