rmine on good and just
grounds, according to the circumstances of each particular case, the
form in which reparation ought to be made to the plaintiff.

32 It is the judge's duty, in delivering judgement, to make his award as
definite as possible, whether it relate to the payment of money or
the delivery of property, and this even when the plaintiff's claim is
altogether unliquidated.

33 Formerly, if the plaintiff, in his statement of claim, demanded more
than he was entitled to, his case fell to the ground, that is, he lost
even that which was his due, and in such cases the praetor usually
declined to restore him to his previous position, unless he was a minor;
for in this matter too the general rule was observed of giving relief to
minors after inquiry made, if it were proved that they had made an error
owing to their lack of years. If, however, the mistake was entirely
justifiable, and such as to have possibly misled even the discreetest of
men, relief was afforded even to persons of full age, as in the case of
a man who sues for the whole of a legacy, of which part is found to
have been taken away by codicils subsequently discovered; or where such
subsequently discovered codicils give legacies to other persons, so
that, the total amount given in legacies being reduced under the lex
Falcidia, the first legatee is found to have claimed more than the
threefourths allowed by that statute. Overstatement of claim takes four
forms; that is, it may relate either to the object, the time, the place,
or the specification. A plaintiff makes an overclaim in the object when,
for instance, he sues for twenty aurei while only ten are owing to him,
or when, being only part owner of property, he sues to recover the whole
or a greater portion of it than he is entitled to. Overclaim in respect
of time occurs when a man sues for money before the day fixed for
payment, or before the fulfilment of a condition on which payment was
dependent; for exactly as one who pays money only after it falls due
is held to pay less than his just debt, so one who makes his demand
prematurely is held to make an overclaim. Overclaim in respect of place
is exemplified by a man suing at one place for performance of a promise
which it was expressly agreed was to be performed at another, without
any reference, in his claim, to the latter: as, for instance, if a man,
after stipulating thus, 'Do you promise to pay at Ephesus?' were to
claim the money as due at