Definition
In Roman and civil law, *dupla* refers to double the price of a thing — specifically, the measure of damages or liability owed when a seller failed to deliver good title to property sold. Where a buyer was evicted from possession of purchased property because the seller lacked the right to convey it, the seller's obligation was to pay *dupla*: twice the purchase price. This remedy functioned as a form of guaranteed indemnity built into Roman sale transactions, reflecting the civil law's concern with protecting buyers against defects of title.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A form of bell used in some medieval clocks.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not recorded as a common English word.
The common and legal meanings share no relationship. The clock-bell sense is a narrow technical term from medieval horology that happens to share the Latin form. A researcher encountering *dupla* in a legal source should set the bell meaning aside entirely — the legal term is a Roman law measure of liability, not a mechanical object.
Common Confusion
*Dupla* is sometimes loosely conflated with *duplum*, the general Latin adjective for "double." They are related but not interchangeable in legal texts. *Dupla* in the Digest refers specifically to the price-doubling remedy in eviction scenarios, while *duplum* appears in a broader range of penalty and forfeiture contexts. Researchers working with civil law sources should note which term appears in the original Latin before assuming the penalty structure is identical.
Why It Matters in Research
*Dupla* is a narrow term of Roman sale law that surfaces almost exclusively in civil law sources and in common law scholarship engaging with Roman legal inheritance. Researchers will encounter it most often in:
— Digest citations, particularly Dig. 21.2 (the title *De evictionibus et duplae stipulatione*), which governs eviction warranties and the stipulation for double the price.
— Civil law treatises and commentaries working through the implied warranties of sale.
— Early American and Louisiana materials, where civilian influence on property and sale law is strongest.
The term rarely appears in English common law sources because common law developed its own warranty doctrine independently and did not import the *dupla* framework. A researcher who finds *dupla* in an English common law text should treat it as a learned reference to Roman law, not evidence that the *dupla* remedy was operative in that jurisdiction.
The Digest reference in both Burrill and Black (Dig. 21.2.2) is a reliable anchor. Researchers tracing the concept should work outward from Title 21.2 of the Digest, which addresses eviction and the double-price stipulation as an integrated system — the *stipulatio duplae* was the contractual mechanism by which the *dupla* remedy was formally invoked.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill and Black are in complete agreement on the definition: double the price of a thing, with shared citation to Dig. 21.2.2. Neither entry elaborates on the procedural mechanics — how *dupla* was triggered, the role of the *stipulatio duplae*, or the distinction between the implied and express forms of the remedy. Both entries treat *dupla* as a bare translation rather than a doctrinal concept, which is typical of their treatment of Roman law terms but leaves the researcher without navigational context.
What the historical dictionaries miss: the significance of Dig. 21.2.37.2, cited only by Burrill (*simplam pro dupla*), which addresses the circumstance where parties contracted for simple rather than double the price — a variation on the standard remedy. This citation in Burrill is the more complete reference and points researchers toward the range of variation in how the double-price obligation could be modified by agreement.
Neither dictionary connects *dupla* to the broader *stipulatio duplae* literature or to its reception in Spanish, French, or Louisiana civil law — gaps a researcher working in those traditions will need to fill from other sources.
Jurisdictional Note
The *dupla* concept had practical legal force in jurisdictions with strong civilian foundations, particularly Louisiana, where Roman and Spanish civil law shaped the law of sales and warranty. In common law jurisdictions, the concept is encountered only in comparative and historical scholarship. Researchers in civilian or mixed jurisdictions should consult local codifications of sale and eviction warranty law to determine how the *dupla* principle was received or transformed.