Africanus, Questions, Book III. In private business, a father may act as judge where his son is interested, and vice versa:

Africanus, Questions, Book III. Having stipulated that a hundred aurei should be paid to you at Capua, you received a surety; proceedings to recover the money should be instituted against the surety just as they should be against the promisor himself; that is to say, if an action is brought at any other place than Capua it ought to be an arbitrarian one, and the damages must be assessed at an amount equal to the interest that either the plaintiff or the defendant would have in the sum of money being paid at Capua rather than elsewhere. Nor should the obligation of the surety be increased because it was the fault of the principal debtor that the entire sum of a hundred aurei was not paid at Capua; for this case cannot properly be compared with an obligation for the payment of interest, for there there are two stipulations, but in this instance there is only one for money borrowed, and, with reference to the execution of the same, the amount of damages must be left to the discretion of the Court. I think that a very clear proof of the difference between these two cases is established by the fact that, if a portion of the money is paid after the party is in default and suit is brought for the remainder, the duty of the judge is to estimate the interest which the plaintiff has in payment to be made at Capua of only the amount involved in the action.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. Where a tract of land has been sold conditionally in this manner to two partners, and one of them increases the price, it is very properly held that the first sale is annulled, even with reference to the share of the party who increases the amount.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. The Lex Ælia Sentia does not apply where a man who owes money under a condition manumits a slave by virtue of a trust. 1Where a soldier makes a will under military law, and bequeaths freedom to slaves for the purpose of defrauding his creditors, and then dies insolvent, the bequest of freedom will be void.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. When anyone stipulates for merchandise, and accepts a surety to be furnished on a certain day, the time must be computed from the day when he received the security.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. If, after a ward has arrived at the age of puberty, his guardian should be in default for some time in rendering an account of his administration, it is certain that, so far as the profits and interest of the intermediate time are concerned, he, as well as his sureties, will be liable.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. When anyone writes a bequest of a legacy to himself, he is liable to the penalty of the Cornelian Law, although the legacy is void; for it is established that he is liable who writes a bequest of a legacy to himself in a will which is afterwards broken, even if it was not legally executed in the beginning. This, however, is only true when the will is perfect, for if it should not be sealed, the better opinion is that the Decree of the Senate will not apply; just as there would be no ground for an interdict to compel the production of the will; for it is necessary, in the first place, that there should be a will of some kind, even if it was not drawn up according to law, in order for the Decree of the Senate not to be applicable. For in order that a will may be properly designated as forged, it is essential that, after the forgery has been removed from it, it still can properly be called a will. Therefore, in like manner, a will is said to be made contrary to law in which, if all the regular formalities had been observed, it could be said that it was legally executed. 1If the appointed heir has written the disinheritance of a son, or of any other persons, mentioning them by name, he will be liable under the Decree of the Senate. 2In like manner he who, with his own hand, has deprived the testator’s slave of freedom, and, above all, if he is charged with the payment of legacies, or the execution of a trust, he will be liable under the Decree of the Senate. 3If a patron should write the bequest of a legacy in his own favor in the will of his freedman, and, after having obtained pardon for doing so, he has been ordered to relinquish the legacy, can he obtain the benefit of prætorian possession contrary to the provisions of the will? The better opinion is that he cannot do so. It does not, however, result from this that if a wife should include the bequest of her dower for her benefit in a will, or a creditor writes a bequest of what is due to him at a certain time, for his own benefit; and, in like manner, having been pardoned, they are ordered to surrender the legacies, an action for her dowry should not be refused to the woman, as well as one for his claim to the creditor, in order that neither of them may be deprived of that to which they are actually entitled.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. When the question is asked whether an action should be granted against a person who is the member of a embassy, it is not so important to ascertain where the claimant either lent him money, or stipulated that something should be given, as to know where suit can be brought, so that payment may be made during the time of his mission.

Africanus, Questions, Book III. Mela says that slaves are not included in the term “merchandise,” and for this reason those who sell them are not designated merchants, but dealers in slaves; and this is correct.