Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.65 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.65
In the laws pertaining to the sale of real property it is stipulated in our civil code that when a transfer of any real estate is made, all its defects shall be declared as far as they are known to the vendor. According to the laws of the Twelve Tables it used to be sufficient that such faults as had been expressly declared should be made good and that for any flaws which the vendor expressly denied, when questioned, he should be assessed double damages. A like penalty for failure to make such declaration also has now been secured by our jurisconsults: they have decided that any defect in a piece of real estate, if known to the vendor but not expressly stated, must be made good by him.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.65, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.65
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA summary of Roman property law: sellers of land had to declare known defects, with the old rule covering only faults expressly mentioned and later jurists extending liability to any known defect that was not declared.
Older wording
- “vendor”
- — the seller
- “jurisconsults”
- — legal experts who gave rulings
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Speech and silence
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