INTER DICTUM

“In certain cases ( cert is ex causis ) the praetor or proconsul, in the first instance ( principaliter ), exercises his authority for the termination of disputes. This he chiefly does when the dispute is about po e ion or quasi-po e ion; and the exercise of his authority consists in ordering something to be done, or forbidding something to be done. The formulae and the terms, which he uses on such occasions, are called either interdict a or decreta . They are called decreta when he orders something to be done, as when he orders something to be produced ( exhiberi ) or to be restored: they are called interdict a when he forbids something to be done, as when he orders that force shall not be used against a person who is in po e ion rightfully ( sine vitio ), or that nothing shall be done on a piece of sacred ground. Accordingly all interdict a are either restitutor i a, or exhibitor i a, or prohibitor i a.” This pa age, which is taken from Gaius, the Roman jurist, contains the e ential distinction between an actio and an inter dictum . In the case of an actio, the praetor pronounces no order or decree, but he gives a judex, whose busine it is to investigate the matter in dispute, and to pronounce a sentence consistently with the formula, which is his authority for acting. In the case of an actio, therefore, the praetor neither orders nor forbids a thing to be done, but he says, Judicium dabo . In the case of an interdict, the praetor makes an order that something shall be done or shall not be done, and his words are accordingly words of command; Restituas, Exhibeas, Vim fier i veto . This immediate interposition of the praetor is appropriately expre ed by the word principaliter .