“If Aulus, having first obtained from Titius the promise of a hundred aurei, turned to Seius and said, Spondesne mihi, Sei, cosdem centum aureos dare?(Do you engage, Seius, to give me the same one hundred aurei?), then if Seius answered, Spondeo, there was one single obligation for a hundred aurei, binding in full on each of the two debtors. Aulus could demand a hundred from Titius or a hundred from Seius, and in case of non-payment could sue either one, taking his choice between them, for the full amount. If either paid the hundred, whether willingly or by compulsion, the other was released: for there was but one debt, and that was now discharged. This kind of obligation is called correal obligation (correal, from con, and reus or rei, connected parties, parties associated in a common debt or credit).” James Hadley, Introduction to Roman Law 258 (1881).
correal
correal (kor-ee-[schwa]l or k[schwa]-ree-[schwa]l), adj. [fr. Latin correus “codebtor”] Roman law. Of or relating to liability that is joint and several. • A correal debtor who paid an entire obligation had no right of action against a codebtor. See CORREUS; SOLIDARY.
