Actio rei uxoriae

The lawsuit for the handover of the dowry ( lat. Actio rei uxoriae ) in Roman law had three requirements: a valid marriage , an actually given dowry and an actual termination of the marriage. When sentencing, the respective judge always had to observe the aequius melius, i.e. the equity that prompted him not to drive the man into ruin by surrendering or to allow him the possible three-year installment. Usually the monetary value was only condemned in order to leave the man, i.e. the debtor, the option of third-party payment.

The suit for the handover of the dowry was in vain if the woman had committed adultery . In the imperial times , however, this was tempered by only reducing the dowry. The handing over of the dowry was an important matter for the woman, because only with an appropriate dowry could she remarry.

The lawsuit became famous in the process of the easy-going Fannia who committed adultery. Her husband Gaius Titinius then refused to hand over the dowry, the judge, the then consul Gaius Marius , sentenced Fannia to a sestercy for adultery, but the man to the handover of the full dowry, because he had known what kind of woman before the marriage he let himself in there. Today's § 1314 BGB also takes this into account.

literature

• Hans Julius Wolff (Ed.): Alfred Söllner , On the history and function of the Actio rei uxoriae . Research on Roman Law. Treatise 26. Cologne, Vienna, Böhlau 1969. XIV. 167 ff.