On the Greek-philosophical impact on Labeo’s definition of the locatio conductio operis * Sull’impatto del pensiero filosofico greco sulla definizione della locatio conductio operis di Labeone

Roman law was influenced by Hellenistic concepts across the various periods of its development. This influence is reflected in the inclusion of Greek terms in the Latin texts of Roman jurists. The following article addresses Labeoʼs definition of locatio conductio operis and its interpretation in Romanist doctrine. The article explores Labeo’s use of the terms ἀποτέλεσμα and ἔργον in his definition, offering a linguistic analysis of these lines that attends to the meaning of the Greek language usage. In conclusion, the significance of the Hellenistic influence here is grounded by reviewing some relevant aspects of Greek law and the circumstances under which Labeo wrote his text, which is cited in D. 50.16.5.1. Nelle varie fasi del suo sviluppo, il diritto romano è stato particolarmente influenzato da concetti ellenistici. Questo fatto si riflette soprattutto nell’uso di termini greci nei testi latini dei giuristi romani. L’articolo tratta della definizione di Labeo di locatio


Graeca in Roman legal writings
The influence of 'Hellenistic' ideas and norm conceptions within Roman law is the subject of multiple topics of research, from work on the Greek-inspired composition of the XII Tables, 1 to studies of the infusion of Hellenistic concepts in late Roman law.But while the practice documented by Egyptian papyri indicates that a certain "Hellenization of the Roman law" had taken place as early as the time of Augustus, 2 a completely different picture is given by the legal sources. 3While we know of imperial constitutions that explicitly fought against the use of typical Greek institutions, 4 there are legal sources that prove a willingness to adopt Greek-Hellenistic legal thinking into the official Roman imperial law. 5 The Roman iurisperiti, however, often used Greek terms to express themselves more precisely and comprehensibly.As regards the transmission of the Digest, in the Vulgata all Greek words and passages were de-ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 leted or translated into Latin.The first to reinstate them was Alciatus.The later humanists made further efforts in this direction, but only the publication of the Florentina, the one manuscript containing Greek quotations, reveals the full extent of the original Greek quotations. 6Hans Erich Troje traces approximately sixty fragments in the Digest containing Greek expressions. 7Furthermore, a comprehensive list of Graeca is provided in Giovanni Bortolucci's Index verborum Graecorum quae in Institutionibus et Digestis occurrunt, dating from 1906, which cites more than a hundred texts containing Greek expressions. 8witching to a foreign language in non-technical language use can indicate, on the one hand, an attempt to distance oneself from what is being stated.For example, the Emperor Augustus switched to Greek in his letters when he had something unpleasant to say to his addressee. 9On the other hand, the ability to use Greek within Latin texts was regarded as prestigious.Thus, Marcus Aurelius was complimented by his teacher Fronto for the way he distributed Greek quotations in his Latin writing. 10his two-sided understanding also applies to the intellectuals of the late Republic: they might use Greek terms when needed to cover a semantic field for which Latin did not offer an adequate expression; sometimes they tried to minimize the penetration of the foreign language by using various subtle techniques of assimilation. 11Bortolucci 1906, passim.This index also contains documents from practice and imperial rescripts that were written in Greek and offers a list of quotations of classical Greek authors, such as Homer, Demosthenes and Plato. 9Cugusi 1983, 85.See in the same chapter interesting remarks on the use of Greek in Cicero's letters: it seems to the author that "Cicerone ricorrendo al greco voglia riservarsi la possibilità di εἰρωνεύεσθαι, cioè di scherzare e insieme conservare un (sorridente) distacco da ciò che scrive", 84. 10 Wenskus 1995, 181. 11 Schiavone 1971, 65, who in note 56 refers to the rejection of an uncontrolled use of Greekisms, cf.Cic.or.49.164: "Qua re bonitate potius nostrorum verborum utamur quam splendore Graecorum, nisi forte sic loqui paenitet.[…]" and de off.1.31.111:"[…] Ut enim sermone eo debemus uti, qui innatus est nobis, ne, ut quidam, Graeca verba inculcantes iure optimo rideamur, sic in actiones omnemque vitam nullam discrepantiam conferre debemus".ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274   Romans, who were thus given a superior opportunity to understand the text.The Greek vocabulary offered the jurists a richer language than Latin alone, and thus they had a better chance of rendering certain meanings more precisely with Greek. 12Others believe that some Greek words occur in the legal writings to point things out fully and perspicuously to those for whom these terms were more suitable, in other words, trying to reach Greek readers. 13Yet others suppose that the jurists used the Greek terms merely to boast and demonstrate their linguistic skill. 14Finally, some hold the view that for certain jurists, one might speak of real conceptual borrowings, 15 not merely in the sense that the Greek terms and institutions were models for Roman law, 16 but in the sense that an intrinsically Greek concept was inherent in the Greek word: something essential and untranslatable.The intent of the compilers of the Digest of Justinian was, however, different from that of the Roman jurists of the so-called classical period: it was not the educated Roman who was to be supported in better understanding, but the reader of Greek origin who obviously had a very good command of the Greek language, but not always of Latin. 17The jurist who refers to the Graeca in the Digest most frequently is Marcus Antistius Labeo.Each case of his use of Greek terms warrants attention and cannot be done away with "pensando a un innocuo gusto erudito". 18Labeo's famous passage about the concept of synallagma (Ulp.11 ed.D. 50.16.19),which refers to the writings of Aristotle, is well examined. 19The fragment 12 Marrone 1995, 173;Babusiaux 2014, passim, who underlines that most synonyms appear when explaining controversial issues and that the iurisperiti use the Greek terms in order to clarify and reinforce the factual argument, 57. 13  Bortolucci 1906, 356: "nomina […] iurisconsultorum […], quibus aptiora ea verba essent".Plisecka 2009, 70 assumes that mainly the casuistic literature was addressed to a bilingual audience. 14 Martini 2001, 140 ("solo a fini esibizionistici"), who gives as examples the equalisation of novalis and νέασις (Gai.7 ed.prov.D. 50.16.30.2), venenum and ϕάρμακον (Gai.4  leg.XII tab.D. 50.16.236pr.), puer and παίδιον (Paul. 2 Sab.Martini 2001, 141. 16 This is the point of view of Collinet 1952, 328: "les institutions grecques, les terms grecques restent pour eux [les romains] des modèles". 17Marrone 1995, 173. 18 Schiavone 1987, 166;see also idem 1971, 65. 19 See, for all, Biscardi 1983, passim, with  Michael Crawford translates: "By hire of opus Labeo says that by these words is meant that opus which the Greeks call apotelesma not that which they call ergon, that is, some completed product of an executed opus". 21So, Labeo defines the word opus by using two Greek words to distinguish its meaning.
On this occasion, the question of the unity or trichotomy of the Roman locatio conductio is not addressed. 22As for the communis opinio, the conventional subdivision into locatio conductio rei, operarum and operis was completely unknown to Roman legislation, both to the so-called classical legislation and to the legislation of Justinian; however, it is recognized that the Roman jurists were aware of a distinction between the different forms. 23he problem has not yet been resolved by doctrine.
This article focuses on the locatio conductio operis, widely understood as a "consensual contract whereby one party (the conductor) promised to produce a certain effect or result by his work, for example, to build a house or to make a dress for a recompense to be paid by the other party (the locator)". 24ncidentally, these private contracts must be clearly distinguished from public leases, in which one of the parties is the state or some other public entity. 25As far as public contracts are concerned, one party is constituted by the public entities as locatores, the other by the private concessionaires recent literature, cf.Babusiaux 2014, 56-57. 20Mommsen, Krueger and Watson 1985, 934. 22 It was one of the main topics of Romanist studies of the last century and the literature is abundant; an excellent overview of the discussion can be found in Fiori 1999, 1-10, indicating the most important literature of the twentieth century.In this regard see also Mayer-Maly 1956, 15-20;Kaser 1960, passim;Du Plessis 2023, 2291-2292. 23 Fiori 1999, 8. 24 Schulz 1951, 542. 25 Cf. Biscardi 1960, 411.In his conclusion, however, he emphasizes "un sorprendente parallelismo fra locazioni pubbliche e private", ibidem, 438.as conductores (or redemptores, coloni)-either as single persons or as a group of people associated with each other. 26eturning to the passage in question, regarding the definition of the private contract, we may state first of all that this text has never been considered interpolated. 27It is difficult to say with what intention Labeo provided the definition in question. 28Lenel considers the hypothesis that the definition was given with regard to leases ordered by municipal magistrates ("wird man § 1 des Fragments […] mit ziemlicher Wahrscheinlichkeit auf die Verdingungen von Bauten und sonstigen Unternehmungen seitens der Municipalmagistrate beziehen dürfen"). 29He supposes that for the actions arising from these contracts-in the interests of the impartial administration of justice-only the praetor was competent. 30In his Palingenesia, Lenel cites the fragment in question among excerpts from the commentary ad edictum, 31 in the section De vadimonio Romam faciendo, among the Labeonis loci incerti ("Labeo laudator non indicato libro") as well as in Paul's commentary ad edictum. 3226 Biscardi 1960, 428. 27 Martin 1989, 37. 28 In fact, we cannot know for sure if the text in its original version was meant as a definition.It might be put forward that Labeo intended to analyse the Greek terminology used in the transactions of his time in order to examine which terms corresponded to the Roman equivalent.By doing so he might have tried to avoid confusion about the nature of the contract as a result of the fact that a language other than Latin was used.In any case, we know that contracts in Greek were widespread throughout the Roman territory (see, e.g., Gai.3.134: "[…] chirografis et syngrafis […]").But on the one hand the contents of these contracts do not necessarily have to reflect the law of the writings of the Roman iurisperiti (cf.Du Plessis 2023, 2293-2294, especially n. 24 with further literature), and on the other we know of Labeo's predilection for definitiones (see infra, V.), which seems to argue for the hypothesis that the original text was meant as a definition. 29 Lenel 1881, 43. 30 Ibidem. 31As far as the question of praetoris urbani aut peregrini is concerned, see Pernice 1873, 55-59.However that may be, the majority of Labeo's quotations in the Digest is taken from his books ad edictum, see ibidem, 55. 32 Lenel 1889, 503 (Labeo 10), 556 (Labeo 384) and 968 (Paulus 105).It is difficult to say why the definiendum is put in the ablative: opere locato conducto.As suggested by an anonymous reviewer, whom I wish to thank for the input, two hypotheses might be proposed: It could be a commentary in the form of a gloss or it might be the analysis of a term that is used in the ablative case in a legal formula (in the edict or in a formulary clause of a contract).Cannata 2014, 385 reads the words as It cannot be said for sure in which context Paul quotes Labeo's definition. 33In the principium of D. 50.16.5 he discusses the term res, but without quoting Labeo.The text of D. 50.16.5.1 follows without any transition.It has been suggested that Paul did not want to explain the contents of a locatio conductio, but that he intended just to clarify the meaning of a term recurring in legal language, or that he simply did not want to indicate the contents of the obligation arising from a locatio conductio, but wanted to highlight its effect, its result. 34In any case, while the circumstances around the composition of the fragment, as well as the context of its quotation, remain uncertain, it can be said that no one has ever doubted that Labeo is its author. 35The Justinianic compilers then included it in the title 50.16 de verborum significatione of the Digest. 36In his article on this title, Marrone categorizes the relevant passage in the chapter "Intenti pratici: l'impiego di parole greche e il riferimento a talune peculiarità della lingua latina".In other words, he assumes that the compilers included the passage to appeal to readers stemming from the Greek-speaking world. 37he history of the text's interpretation is noteworthy in its number of conflicting variations.In the beginning, in the littera Bononiensis, the fragment's opening was read as opere legato conducto, so glossators and commentators had singled out in the testimony a sense of a burden on the heir to directly or indirectly realize an opus and concluded that the heir or the conductor operis appointed by him could be considered to be discharged only when the opus was perfectum. 38On the basis of the auctoritas of the ablativus absolutus, but does not attach any further importance to this fact: "Labeone spiegava la locuzione opus locatum conductum che egli (o magari Paolo) leggeva evidentemente in un contesto nel quale essa compariva all'ablativo assoluto.Ma ciò non ha alcuna importanza."Scholars who commented on the passage, like Doneau, Cujas or Pothier, did not refer to the ablative (cf.Wubbe 1982, 243 n. 11. ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 littera Florentina, from the humanists onward, the reading opere locato (et) conducto was generally accepted. 39Furthermore, in the manuscripts and traditional editions up to the middle of the sixteenth century, the Greek words were missing (Graeca non leguntur).
Much has been written on the fragment in question in the last one and a half centuries.The following pages offer a brief overview of some of the most important opinions.
August Bechmann takes the passage into account to underline his conviction that the locator had to give to the conductor the materials out of which the opus had to be done, 40 stressing the fact of handing over (datur) a thing. 41heodor Mommsen assumes that the private locationes were derived from the public ones. 42He defines the locatio operis, which in his opinion arose from the ancient censorial contract (in which the municipality is the locator), as the assumption of burdens ("Übernahme von Lasten"), without going into further detail. 43ernhard Windscheid does not explicitly refer to D. 50.16.5.1 in his chapter on rent; he merely describes the locatio conductio operis as a special case of "Dienstmiethe" or rather as "Werkverdingung" which is aimed at the result of the work that has to be produced. 44go Brasiello is convinced that in this passage we find evidence that the Romans predominantly look at work as already accomplished, or rather, as the thing that is the object of work.Opus for them is not all the work done to locato (et) conducto, ibidem. 39Fiori 1999, 156.The interpretation of the passage by the humanists as opposition between opus factum and corpus perfectum was replaced at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the antithesis opus as result vs. opus as activity.For some time, the so-called locatio operis was interpreted as species of the genus locatio operarum; only from Dernburg onwards was the locatio operis seen as autonomous contract besides the locatio operarum.D. 50.16.5.1 has since then been read by the majority of scholars as indicating an opposition between opus and opera; for an overview of the earlier interpretations, see Fiori 1999, 156-157.For the interpretations from the twentieth century onward, see infra. 40Bechmann 1876, 430: "Alles Opus hat also eine reale Basis, und zwar ist diese eine Sache des Vergebenden". 41Bechmann 1876, 431 n. 1 with a reference to Paul.34 ed.D. 19.2.22.1:Quotiens autem faciendum aliquid datur, locatio est. 42This view is now widely refuted, see Fiori 1999, 13 n.3. 43 Mommsen 1885, 268. 44Windscheid 1900, 671.
ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 accomplish something, but is precisely the thing that is considered-even before it begins to be done-as already having come into being. 45Opus locatum is "ex opere facto corpus aliquod perfectum", in other words, a new corpus, a quid that the craftsman creates with his work.According to Brasiello, this does not include the washing done by the fullo, nor the mending done by the sarcinator, nor does it include the transport of goods or the training of a slave. 46No one will say that the rinsed or mended tunica is a corpus that has become perfectum or that the slave who has been taught the art of baking bread has become a corpus perfectum because of this.The sources do not say opus locare in any of these cases. 47The expression is used only when there is a new corpus to build, like, for instance, when there is a house (a villa or an insula) to construct, a statue to sculpt or rings or vases to be worked on.In other words, locatio operis is not the "location of work" in general, but the location of a certain type of work, the location of the opus, understood in the sense of corpus. 48uigi Amirante confirms Brasiello's conclusion, retracing the concepts earlier jurists had of the locatio conductio: 49 he underlines that our oldest legal testimony on the topic is handed down to us by Quintus Mucius (cited by Pomponius 9 ad Q.Muc.D. 34.2.34 pr.) and concerns aurum, quod aurifici faciundum dedisset.It seems that for Quintus Mucius a res locata could only be one that the conductor had to return in its identity. 50Amirante 1959, 65-78. 50 Amirante 1959, 70. Cf. also Schiavone 1987, 125-126;Ferrary, Schiavone and Stolfi 2018, 252-255 ("sebbene nulla sia detto espressamente, doveva dunque trattarsi di una locatio operis, in cui oggetto del facere fosse proprio, esclusivamente o almeno tendenzialmente, l'aurum datum", 252-253). 51Amirante 1959, 68 prefers to relate the contents of D. 19.2.31 to Alfenus.But see, for opposing opinions, ibidem n. 9.
ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 worked on it (Alf.5 dig.a Paulo epit.D. 19.2.31). 52Despite the broadening of the concept of res locata, however, Alfenus was still attached to the idea that the res must be materially existing at the time of the conclusion of the contract. 53Only Labeo expresses the concept of opus locatum.While Luigi Amirante holds that the "concetto di opus locatum sia stato opera di Labeone", 54 in other words that he had invented it, 55 Max Kaser excoriates the achievements of Labeo, supposing that he was probably just the first to have given a definition of opus locatum ("kann ihn auch bloss als erster definiert haben"). 56mirante, who does not examine the significance of the Greek words, suggests that in Labeo's definition it is not the material (gold, silver, marble and so on) that is the object of the locatio, but rather the opus in the sense of "la res esistente solo idealmente al momento della conclusione del contratto, ma che, fatta perfetta, cioè compiuta dall'artefice, sarà da questo consegnata al locatore".The artisan is therefore responsible for the perfect 52 Amirante 1959, 71.Cf. also Schiavone 1987, 126; Plisecka 2011, 150.In his study about the notion of locatio in epigraphic evidence, Biscardi (1960, 411) refers to the legal sense of the term locare in the same way: the handing over of a thing to a person and the corresponding receipt of it by the conductor with the obligation to return it in its identity or transformed according to the will of the parties.It is important to note that this is valid for all variants of locatio: public as well as private.Thanks to the analysis of the epigraphic evidence, Biscardi states that in fact all the applications of the later consensual contract of hire (that can be traced back to the duo genera rerum locatarum [D.19.2.31]) were preceded historically by a locatio in the field of relations between public and private entities (ibidem, 439). 53Amirante 1959, 77. 54Amirante 1959, 78.In a later article (and response to Kaufmann 1964) Amirante 1967, 56 specifies that Labeo did not intend to explain the meanings of locare and conducere, but of opus in this precise context, for short: the meaning of opus locatum, in the sense of a new and perfectum corpus that the conductor had to build and for the perfectio of which he was responsible.Amirante 1959, 79. Schiavone (1987, 174) follows his view: "La citazione del giurista severiano riproduce, come sappiamo, un altro momento importante della riflessione teorica di Labeone: la formazione e la definizione del concetto di 'opus locatum'".See also idem 1971, 82. 56Kaser 1960, 232.The interpretation of Amirante is also strongly criticized by Thomas 1971, 674-675, who with regard to D. 50.16.5.1 stresses "it was the res futura which was res locata in a locatio operis faciendi involving the creation of a new thing" (ibidem, 675 correspondence between the opus locatum and the opus that he delivers. 57 different approach to the fragment is taken by Felix Wubbe.In his article on opus according to Labeo's definition, he gives a clear and precise exegesis of the fragment in question.He maintains that the problem consists in the fact that in this context the word opus does not have the same meaning as ergon-as is usually the case-but here, as to Labeo, apotelesma is the appropriate synonym.The usual reading of the text says that in the locatio conductio operis it is not the effort that counts, like in the locatio conductio operarum, but the result: the achievement.In short, in the common interpretation of the text ἀποτέλεσμα equals result, while ἔργον equals effort.So the sentence id est ex opere facto corpus aliquod perfectum is usually put in relation to the word apotelesma.This interpretation is, Wubbe writes, already clearly visible in the editions that add an id est after apotelesma and that try to find for their id est a paraphrase designating something even more perfect than the corpus perfectum in the original text. 58This can be seen, for example, in an edition of the Corpus iuris civilis, dating from 1600:59  Contrary to all this evidence, 61 Wubbe is convinced that the id est sentence explains ergon and that Labeo distinguishes between opus seen as "accomplished effort" ("effort accompli") and its "possible material result" ("résultat matériel éventuel"). 62He concludes his study by stating that the locator can demand and the conductor must supply the apotelesma, the finished activity, the work as required ("l'activité finie, le travail 'comme il faut'").As the case may be, a corpus perfectum will result, but Wubbe is convinced that this is not the point.He underlines that the content of a locatio conductio operis is always a completed activity (and not a thing in the sense of corpus) that the locator may demand and that the conductor must provide. 63 further reading putting the id est sentence into context is also possible: Martin, who assumes that Labeo had construction in mind when he formulated his definition, 64 suggests that the id est may "refer back to the last word of the main clause and recapitulate (in Latin) the conclusion he has demonstrated in the subordinate clause through the use of the Greek words". 65lose to Wubbe's point of view is that of Paolo Pinna Parpaglia, who stresses that the interpretation offered by Brasiello and Amirante does not 61 And contrary to eminent authors who refer it to ἀποτέλεσμα as well, among whom Brasiello 1927, 577; Biscardi 1989, 170; Martini 2001, 146 (to mention a few). 62Wubbe 1982, 251. 64 Martin 1989, 37. A clear presentation of the general principles of construction management can be found in Rainer 1992, 505-508. 65Martin 1989, 37 n.66.She is followed by Müller 2002, 72, who feels that Labeo himself assumes the common definition of the notion opus as ἔργον.Müller emphasizes that the probatio of the commissioned work is decisive for the existence of an apotelesma, because only with acceptance does the opus become a corpus perfectum (ibidem, 73).
ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 take into account the fact that such an opus locatum can be performed in pedes mensurasve.Pinna Parpaglia maintains that the concept of opus that Labeo wants to clarify in the passage of interest seems to be much closer to that of material activity directed toward the execution of a given work than to that of work as the result of this same material activity. 66For Pinna Parpaglia, the hidden meaning of the parenthesis ex opere facto is that the perfectio of the corpus, in other words its gradual refinement, is ultimately what counts ("quello che conta, in definitiva, è la perfectio del corpus, ossia il suo graduale perfezionamento").The contents of the contract are not so much the res as the activity that has to take place on or in the res. 67In other words, the locatio operis is not the letting and hiring of a corpus aliquod perfectum, but the letting and hiring of an activity directed to a specific purpose. 68In sum, Pinna Parpaglia assumes that the term opus-as soon as it refers to a locatio conductio-indicates a goal-oriented activity, a technical operation carried out with a view to achieving a certain result. 69t times D. 50.16.5.1 has been interpreted from the perspective of the opposition between opus / locatio conductio operis and opera / locatio conductio operarum. 70Roberto Fiori doubts this interpretation because it seems strange for Labeo to give a definition in which the definiendum is found in the definition itself with a different meaning: opus locatum conductum would be the corpus perfectum as result of opus factum, understood as something else, as the simple activity. 71lrike Babusiaux, in her article on emblematic code switching in legal writings, places the id est fragment among other examples of jurists borrowing from neighboring disciplines, in this case from grammar.In her view, the Greek synonyms serve to elaborate the variants of the meaning of the edictal term. 72SSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 Remo Martini considers how the fragment suggests that the Greeks, with regard to what the Romans call locatio conductio operis, would have spoken of apotelesma rather than ergon.Martini finds this puzzling, because the inscriptions concerning the procurement of public works, as well as the Laws of Plato relating to works commissioned to artisans, constantly speak of ergon in order to allude to the result of work. 73He confirms his skepticism "circa la pretesa labeoniana di farci credere che per i Greci ἀποτέλεσμα sarebbe stato il risultato dell'attività lavorativa" some years later. 74However, in his final essay on the topic, Martini recognizes that the Byzantine interpreters reused the Greek term apotelesma not in purely terminological terms, but with regard to content ("in chiave sostanziale") in order to refer to an essential characteristic of the contract.He assumes that Labeo had thought of a misthosis "avente sì ad oggetto un ergon ma in cui quel che rilevava […] sarebbe stato il portare a termine l'opera, l'apotelein". 75

Linguistic and philosophical perspectives on ἀποτέλεσμα and ἔργον
Let us now take a closer look at what the Greek words of the fragment mean-generally and not only in a legal sense.
Apotelesma stems from the verb apotelein, meaning "perfecting", "bringing a work to completion".The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae gives as equivalents of apotelesma: effectio, effectus, eventus, exitus.Liddell and Scott propose it means "full completion", "event, result" and "finished product". 76But while the word's meanings of "event, result" are well-attested, the sense of it as a "finished product" occurs only in Philo of Alexandria (at the beginning of the first century AD) and in a late commentator of Aristotle. 77ccording to Schiavone, 78 the use of apotelesma was infrequent until the first century AD, but this is refuted by Biscardi. 79Bretone stresses the 73 Martini 1998, 411. 74Martini 2001, 146. 75 Martini 2011, 417-418. 76 Liddell and Scott 1996, 682-683. 77Cf.Martini 2001, 147. 78 Schiavone 1987, 174;idem 1971, 83. 79Biscardi 1989, 164-166.It seems there is no real contradiction between the two ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 fact that the word does not appear at all in the Nicomachean Ethics nor in the rest of the surviving writings of Aristotle. 80A rare example of its citation-and the only one with reference to Aristotle-can be found in his apocryphal work Περὶ κόσμου 81 (De mundo) 5.397a 14, where it means "full completion". 82rnaldo Biscardi provides a very close and detailed analysis of the term apotelesma. 83Biscardi writes that interpretations of the old doctrine (an additional note to the Glossa and in Heineccius) show that ἀποτέλεσμα differs from ἔργον in the way that opus or ergon alludes to the activity deployed by a person who intends to achieve a certain definite result through his work, while apotelesma expresses the effect that is attained through the work done.Much more common, however, is the verb from which the noun derives and from which it takes its semantic field: ἀποτελεῖν. 84Biscardi summarizes the results of modern lexica as follows: All verbs that have their roots in τελ-allude to an "attività di chi porta a compimento alcunché, nel disbrigo di un certo lavoro o di un certo negozio, donde il senso di perfezionamento, di ultimazione, di risultato raggiunto dei sostantivi che indicano la conclusione integrale dell'opera eseguita o il saldo di un pagascholars, since Schiavone refers only to the use of the noun ἀποτέλεσμα, while Biscardi mentions numerous examples of sources where a word appears that derives from the root τελ-(but not necessarily the noun).This is also true for the two central quotations of this article, see infra.Biscardi's statement that the difference between the two termini tecnici was absolutely clear ("limpidissima") in every-day spoken language is doubtful, because the sources he mentions are mainly philosophical or medical (Biscardi 1989,  169 and 165-166, see infra note 85). 80 Bretone 1984, 188.That is also the reason why he does not identify an Aristotelian influence in our specific case, apart from the fact that there is no thematic connection between D. 50.16.5.1 and the passages of the Nicomachean Ethics cited; he perceives, however, a derivation as far as the definition of metus is concerned but considers the parallel between the Aristotelian synallagma and the Labeonian contractus to be illusory (ibidem, 188-189). 81This work was written by the peripatetic Boethus of Sidon, a disciple of Andronicus of Rhodes between the second half of the first century BC and the first century AD and then inserted in the Aristotelian corpus, Adorno 1972, 163-164. 82 Schiavone 1971, 83.The specific context is the uninterrupted succession of days and nights for the integral fulfilment, i.e. for the realisation, of the month and of the year: εἰς μηνὸς ἀποτέλεσμα καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ. 83 Biscardi 1989, 163-171.Schiavone 1987, 174;idem 1971, 83.ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 mento dovuto". 85he semantic field of ergon, which is a much more common word than apotelesma, 86 corresponds to opus, so it means "work, deed", "thing, matter", "that which is made".Even the phrases érgon estín and opus est have the same meaning.Of this correspondence we indeed have a certain proof in a passage by Plutarch: Plut.Rom.16.6: ὀπίμια δὲ τὰ σκῦλα, φησὶ Βάρρων, καθότι καὶ τὴν περιουσίαν ὄπεμ λέγουσι.πιθανώτερον δ᾽ ἄν τις εἴποι διὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν: ὄπους γὰρ ὀνομάζεται τὸ ἔργον. 87d such spoils were called "opima", because as Varro says, "opes" is the Roman word for richness; but it would be more plausible to say that they were so called from the deed of valour involved, since "opusˮ is the Roman word for deed or exploit. 88 the Codex of Justinian and in his Novellae the word ergon appears many times. 89In the legal Byzantine texts, the term opus is always translated as ἔργον and in the commentary of the Basilika to the text in question it is stated that in the locatio of an opus (ἔργον) it is necessary to pay attention to the result (ἀποτέλεσμα). 9085 Examples of this meaning can be found, e.g., in the historiographers, in the language of Stoic philosophy, in treatises on medicine, in the corpus of Hermetic writings of neo-Platonic inspiration, and so on; ἀποτέλεσμα may also allude to artefacts, i.e. things that were subjected to careful and refined processing, "perfect products".Even the modern Greek language conserves the core value of the noun ἀποτέλεσμα, Biscardi  1989, 165-166.And every time the Novellae use the noun ἀποτέλεσμα, in the parallel Latin version it has its correspondence in effectus, see ibidem, 170 with references and further literature.In the Codex of Justinian neither the noun apotelesma nor the verb apotelein appear, cf.Mayr and San Nicolò 1925, 38.However, we do encounter both words in his Novellae, cf.Bartoletti Colombo 1986, 268-269. 86 Cf. Wubbe 1982, 244. 87 Pinna Parpaglia 1983, 159 refers to this passage in order to underline his point of view.By stressing that in this text the Latin word opus "indicante chiaramente un'operazione tecnica, un lavoro indirizzato ad uno scopo, viene identificata con l'ἔργον" he seeks to highlight that ergon does not indicate a pure and simple work activity, but rather an activity or energy deployed in view of an end, "in breve, una azione vera e propria precisamente indirizzata e finalizzata". 88Translation by Perrin 1982, 139. 89Cf. the passages listed in Mayr and San Nicolò 1925, 172 and in Bartoletti Colombo 1987, 1152-1153. 90 Bas. 2.2.5.1 (Scheltema 1955, 21) Aldo Schiavone assumes that "Labeone con il suo 'quod Graeci … vocant' avesse voluto alludere non a una accezione comune della parola nell'uso dei parlanti dell'area ellenistica, ma a una specifica posizione concettuale a lui ben presente". 91This view is shared by Anna Plisecka. 92n other words, Labeo does not refer here to the common language, which seems to be quite unprecise, but rather to the exactly defined concepts of Aristotelian philosophy.In doctrine, the two following passages of the Nicomachean Ethics, in which the contrast between these terms 93 appears very clearly, are usually cited in this regard: 94 Aristot.Eth.Nic.2.6.2 (1106a.15-17):ῥητέον οὖν ὅτι πᾶσα ἀρετή, οὗ ἂν ᾖ ἀρετή, αὐτό τε εὖ ἔχον ἀποτελεῖ καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ εὖ ἀποδίδωσιν.Aristot.Eth.Nic.6.12.6 (1144a.7-8):ἔτι τὸ ἔργον ἀποτελεῖται κατὰ τὴν φρόνησιν καὶ τὴν ἠθικὴν ἀρετήν.
In the first passage Aristotle talks about arete and says: "It must then be premised that all excellence has a twofold effect on the thing to which it belongs: it not only renders the thing itself good, but it also causes it to perform its function well". 95Scholars translate the relevant terms in different ways: in this sentence ergon means "function" or "result of the activity", since the quality of work done is perceived more in its result than in the activity itself; 96 others have simply interpreted ergon as "work"; 97 while apotelein is translated as "rendered perfect".ϑεωρεῖται.Cf. in this regard Martini 2011, 416-417. 91 Schiavone 1987, 173. See also idem 1971, 80. 92 Plisecka 2009, 67;eadem 2011, 151.She reads the words corpus perfectum in the sense that "l'oggetto della locatio operis poteva essere costituito esclusivamente da una cosa materiale" (152-153). 93It should not go unmentioned that in those passages it is not the noun apotelesma that occurs, but rather its corresponding verb apotelein. 94Two other very famous examples of borrowings from the Nicomachean Ethics found in Labeo's libri ad edictum are the concepts of synallagma (Ulp.11 ed.D. 50.16.19:"contractum" as "ultro citroque obligatio") and metus (Ulp.11 ed.D. 4.2.5:"timor maioris malitatis"), cf.Schiavone 1971, 71-87 and 94. 95 Translation: Rackham 1926, 89. Schiavone 1971, 83 translates: "Si deve dunque dire […] che ogni virtù, a seconda dell'oggetto cui appartiene, lo perfeziona (ἀποτελεῖ) e rende buono il suo lavoro (τὸ ἔργον)". 96Fiori 1999, 159. 97Schiavone 1987, 175.The second fragment reads: "Also Prudence as well as Moral Virtue determines the complete performance of man's proper function". 98Again we have ergon in the sense of "function" or "result of the activity" or "(human) work"; and apoteleitai in the sense of the complete(d) performance. 99rgon is in fact one of Aristotle's key concepts.However, he did not explicitly introduce the concept of ergon, but he understands it as Plato had explained it at the end of Book 1 of his Politeia, demonstrating in this way once more continuity with what others had thought. 100fter first posing the question of telos, the good, and eudaimonia in Nicomachean Ethics 1.6, Aristotle suggests that the question of the highest human goal can perhaps best be answered by referring to the ergon, that is, the task or function of the human being. 101Professions and general roles have an ergon associated with them: a specific task by which they are precisely defined.The same is true of bodily organs.For example, the cobbler has the task of making shoes; the eye has the task of seeing.A certain meaning of the word "good" is implied by this concept of ergon, in so far as one can perform the task in question either in a merely mediocre way or in an excellent way.Now, if human beings are possessors of a role, and human organs have a function, then the human being as a whole-the human being as a human being-also has an ergon.Aristotle thus assumes a given function or task of the human being and calls this ergon.By the ergon of the human being, the good life is now to be determined in such a way that it consists in the excellent accomplishment of the human task. 102s we have seen, in doctrine the relevant terms are translated and interpreted in different ways.Schiavone concludes from the mentioned texts of the Nicomachean Ethics that "ergon è lo sforzo fisico o intellettuale; apotelesma individua il risultato (materiale) compiuto attraverso il lavoro". 103ith regard to these fragments Roberto Fiori argues that both ergon and apoteleitai take their common meanings. 104Based on the aforementioned 98 Translation: Rackham 1926, 367.Schiavone 1971, 83 renders: "L'opera umana [τὸ ἔργον] si porta a compimento (ἀποτελεῖται) attraverso la saggezza e la virtù etica". 99Fiori 1999, 159: The virtues do not lead from activity to result but guarantee that the result is good.Schiavone 1987, 175. 100  passages, he concludes that the opposition between ergon and apotelesma is not between "(material) activity" and "(material) result of activity" but the opposition between "result" and "good, positive result". 105In his very precise exegesis of D. 50.16.5.1, which takes into consideration mainly linguistic aspects, Fiori assumes that ἀποτέλεσμα can be translated as corpus perfectum and ἔργον as opus factum, thus returning to the reading of the humanists. 106He identifies a definitio per genus et speciem that does not point so much to a "definizione 'reale', ossia 'di essenza'", but more to a "definizione 'nominale', volta all'explicatio dell'espressione 'opus locatum conductum'". 107In other words, he assumes that in this passage Labeo simply wanted to show that in a locatio conductio faciendi it is necessary that the product of the activity of the conductor corresponds to the agreement of the parties and that it does not suffice if he has just manufactured any 'product'. 108nstead of arguing in favor of or against one of the interpretations, another opus of Aristotle that has never been taken into account in the interpretation of D. 50.16.5.1 should be added to the discussion: his Eudemian Ethics.
But the term ‚work' has two meanings: for some things have a work that is something different from the employment of them, for instance the work of architecture is a house, not the act of building, that of medicine health, not the process of healing or curing, whereas with other things their work is the process of using them, for instance the work of sight is the act of seeing, that of mathematical science the contemplation of mathematical truth.So ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 it follows that with the things whose work is the employment of them, the act of employing them must be of more value than the state of possessing them. 109 the ergon-argument of the Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle states that the ergon can be an activity, or the result of such an activity: the product detached from the activity that produced it.Thus, the ergon of architecture is the houses, not the building of the houses; the ergon of medicine is the health of the patients, not the medical treatment; the ergon of shoemaking is the shoes, and so on.In all these cases, ergon cannot be translated as "function", but it simply means "result". 110If we understand ergon in this sense, Labeo's id est sentence of D. 50.16.5.1 may actually also refer to the term ergon (which would confirm Wubbe's interpretation).But this is a question to which no definite answer can be given.
The communis opinio is to read apotelesma as "result, full completion" and ergon as "activity, work, labor, job".111However, some Romanist scholars already pointed out that ergon means not only "activity", but the "result" of the activity. 112So the following hypothesis might be offered: since it can be assumed that Labeo was perfectly aware of this double meaning of ergon (activity as well as result), he might have chosen the other wordapotelesma-in his definition of the locatio conductio operis to be as clear and precise as possible, emphasizing his acceptance of the multiple connotations of the terms.
One additional idea might be offered here: perhaps Labeo included the Greek words in his famous definition owing to the fact that the contract of letting and hiring was classified as one arising from the ius gentium and was therefore also available to non-Roman citizens. 113He was addressing an audience that understood both languages and his use of Greek terms attempted to enable a better understanding of his definition. 114SSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274

Greek-Hellenistic law
A brief look at what the rules of the 'work contract' were like in ancient Greece completes the overall picture.As far as life in the community was concerned, "the first duty of an Athenian man was to support himself and his family, whether by producing food on their own farm or by some other means.There was in fact a law against idleness". 115This nomos argias was supposed to fight unemployment and poverty, both of which represented a risk for public order.Since the state of inactivity was related to an inclination towards criminality, the lawgiver's purpose seems to have been that of making the citizens productive, also by giving importance to the various crafts. 116One possibility for fulfilling this obligation of being productive lay in completing a contract for work (μίσθωσις).As far as Greek law is concerned, there are contradictory opinions about the nature of this contract to be found in doctrine. 117On the one hand, Biscardi thinks that the contract of misthosis was perceived by the Greeks as uniform, even at the end of its development-despite the diversity of its possible applications-118 and he distinguishes it from the contract of tender ("contratto di appalto"). 119On the other hand, Martini states that in classical Athens there were two different types of work contracts, comparable to those in Roman law: on the one hand there were the μισθωτοί who were paid per day, and on the other there were those who were paid with sums corresponding to certain amounts of 115 MacDowell 1978, 155. Normally, an Athenian was free to choose his own method of making a living, provided that it was an honest one. 116Cecchet 2016, passim.This law, whose meaning and implications are controversial, was probably introduced in the context of the sixth-century agrarian legislation.In the beginning it was aimed at preserving public land as well as the property of the oikos and it punished those who neglected agricultural work.In the classical period the nomos widened its field of application and was interpreted as a regulation against unemployment and begging, cf.ibidem. 117The expression 'Greek law' shall be intended in the sense of legal experience of the Greek-Hellenistic world in its entirety, from Mycenaean origins to the threshold of Byzantine law, cf.Biscardi 1979, 2. 118 Biscardi 1982, 153-154 lists the following examples: to make available against payment ("messa a mercede") one's own person, a slave, a herd, a building, etc., in the way that the other party derives an advantage from the use of the movable or immovable property, from the labour or from the services of the worker.Biscardi 1982, 154. ISSN 1128-8221 -DIKE 26 (2023): 245-274 work done and who were called μισθωταί.Between these two categories Plato seems to delineate a strong difference on the social level. 120While building contracts (for temples, theaters, city walls, and so on) have been preserved in inscriptions, mostly in the form of public building tenders, private work contracts are mainly preserved in papyri. 121s for the private work contract, the parties are named as the one who 'entrusts' work (ἐκδούς or ἐκδιδών) and the one who assumes it (ἀναιρούμενος [τὸ] ἔργον).These terms are mentioned by Plato and confirmed in other sources, all of which speak of ἔργον that had to be realized within a given period of time.122On this matter, Martini refers to D. 50.16.5.1, stating that we can see Labeo was speaking of ἀποτέλεσμα pointedly, if we take into consideration that Plato123 used the verb ἀποτελέω repeatedly in his Nomoi:124 Plat.Nom.11.920b: οὗτοι δὴ πάντες χώραν καὶ δῆμον θεραπεύοντες διατελοῦσιν, οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες τῶν κατὰ πόλεμον ἀγώνων, οἱ δὲ ὀργάνων τε καὶ ἔργων ἀποτελοῦντες γένεσιν ἔμμισθον.These all continually serve both the country and the people: the one class are leaders in the contests of war, the others produce for pay instruments and works.
If any craftsman fail to execute his work within the time named, owing to baseness -he not revering the god who gives him his livelihood, but deeming him (in his blindness of mind) to be merciful because of his kinship, -he shall, in the first place, pay a penalty to the god, and, secondly, there shall be a law enacted to suit his case. 125 the papyri of Graeco-Roman Egypt, Du Plessis writes they "cannot necessarily be taken to reflect 'Roman' practice as discussed by the Roman jurists in their works". 126But the mentioned passages of Plato give a hint: although in his Nomoi as well as in the epigraphic sources ergon always refers to the object of the contract, Plato stresses at the same time that the crucial thing is to complete the work (apotelein).This corresponds perfectly with Labeo's words: corpus aliquod perfectum. 127

Labeo and his open mindset
To conclude, a deeper insight into the circumstances in which the fragment D. 50.16.5.1 was written shall be offered: as established above, Labeo almost certainly wrote these lines.Labeo, 128 born in Ligures Baebiani (near today's Circello) circa 55 BC, was the son of the jurisconsult and Caesar's opponent Pacuvius Antistius Labeo.A disciple of Trebatius, Labeo probably did not receive his legal training in Rome and started to respondere at a very young age.Thanks to Pomponius we know that Labeo spent six months a year in Rome cum studiosis, while he withdrew from the Urbs for the rest of the year to devote himself to writing. 129As a iurisperitus and founder of the Proculeian school, he fought for human dignity and against 125 Translations by Bury 1984, 415. 126Cf. Martini 2011, 418. 128 About his life and works see, among many others, Pernice 1873, 7-92; Guarino 1955, passim;Kunkel 1967, 32-34 and 114;Schiavone 2017, 301-328. 129  the political oppression, however carefully disguised, of Augustus.He declined to accept office when Augustus offered him the consulship whereby he would have become consul suffectus. 130When Labeo died between 15 and 22 AD, he left many writings, among which were the libri ad edictum, Pithana, Epistulae and Responsa.
The period in which Labeo was writing encompassed the beginning of the Principate, a time when intellectual work was first seen in its intrinsic specificity as a genuine alternative to political engagement turned outwards toward the general public.It is the era when the first 'intellectuals' of Rome were formed, who, at least temporarily, devoted themselves to study 'professionally'.This was a time that saw the increasing detachment of the individual branches of knowledge from their immediate practical applications and theoretical developments were encouraged.For these purposes, an education in Greece (something the Roman elite had already been undertaking for several generations) provided a vast stock of methods and contents for the intellectuals of Labeo's period to fall back on. 131Labeo is one of the most illustrious examples of this approach to thinking and writing.[…].Labeo was an opposer of the regime of Augustus for all his life, see Bretone 1984,  129-184.To the Augustans and their spokesman Capito, Labeoʼs libertas seemed irrational and exorbitant (ibidem, 19; cfr.Gell.13.12.3-6).See also Pernice 1873, 14-17. 131 Schiavone 1971, 46-48;idem 2017, 301-306, 303: "[…] il formarsi di un ceto ‚professionale' di giuristi come corpo sociale distinto".It can be taken for granted that Cicero possessed the works of Aristotle (edited by Andronicus of Rhodes) in his library.Trebatius, a friend of Cicero and Labeo's teacher, discovered the Topica and owing to Trebatius' difficulties in understanding them, Cicero wrote a summary of the Aristotelian opus and dedicated his Topica to the jurist.Schiavone draws the conclusion that if Trebatius had read these works, then brilliant minds such as Servius and Labeo must have dedicated themselves all the more to the reading and study of Aristotle's works, Schiavone 1987, 174; idem 1971, 81-82.On the availability of the writings of Aristotle in Rome in the first century BC, see also Moraux 1973, 36-44; Bretone  1984, 182.For literature on the reception of Greek philosophy in the scientia iuris at the end of the Roman republic see, among many others, Costa 1892, passim; Kübler 1934, passim, who speaks of a "förmliche Einwanderung griechischer Philosophen in Rom" (p.82) and underlines that "die römische Rechtswissenschaft ihr Dasein der Befruchtung durch die griechische Philosophie verdankte" (p.98); Senn 1934, passim; Stroux 1934, passim, who refers to the three Greek disciplines that exerted a major influence on Roman jurisprudence: grammar, philosophy, and rhetoric; Wieacker 1988, 618-630 and 639-662;and especially Giltaij 2016, passim. 132 Of course it must be admitted that the identification of the sources for Labeo's culture Labeo's preference for definitiones 133 might have its origin in Servius.It is highly probable that Labeo knew Servius' writings, perhaps because of the wide circulation of Servius᾿ writings in the legal circles of the late Republic, or even because of direct contact between the two jurists. 134Schiavone suspects that Labeo's attempts to define certain terms derive from Servius' line of thought, with the intention of establishing a connection to the previous effort and developing what had been worked out-no longer on a purely 'logical' level, but on a normative foundation. 135abeo's many innovations were indicative of the quality of his genius and the trust he had in his own learning, which had drawn heavily on other branches knowledge.As the following texts confirm, Labeo was trained in many disciplines: 136 Pomp.lb.sg.ench.D. 1.2.2.47:  […] hi duo primum veluti diversas sectas fecerunt: nam Ateius Capito in his, quae ei tradita fuerant, perseverabat, Labeo ingenii qualitate et fiducia doctrinae, qui et ceteris operis sapientiae operam dederat, plurima innovare instituit.