- Source
- Digesta Iustiniani Augusti. Mommsen, Theodor & Krueger, Paul, editors. Berlin: Weidmann, 1870.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.2.19.pr
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Discusses the method of relief and the extent of the share of inheritance for an instituted daughter when her sister, who was passed over by their mother in favor of a stranger, wins an action on the ground of an inofficious testament.
[IDEM libro secundo quaestionum.]
[THE SAME AUTHOR in his Second Book of Questions.]
Mater decedens extraneum ex dodrante heredem instituit, filiam unam ex quadrante, alteram praeteriit: haec de inofficioso egit et optinuit. quaero, scriptae filiae quomodo succurrendum sit. respondi: filia praeterita id uindicare debet, quod intestata matre habitura esset: itaque dici potest eam quae omissa est etiam, si totam hereditatem ab intestato petat et optineat, solam habituram uniuersam successionem, quemadmodum si altera omisisset legitimam hereditatem. sed non est admittendum, ut aduersus sororem audiatur agendo de inofficioso: praeterea dicendum est non esse similem omittenti eam, quae ex testamento adiit: et ideo ab extraneo semissem1 uindicandum et defendendum totum semissem esse auferendum, quasi semis totus ad hanc pertineat. secundum quod non in totum testamentum infirmatur, sed pro parte intestata efficitur, licet quasi furiosae iudicium ultimum eius damnetur.2 ceterum si quis putauerit filia optinente totum testamentum infirmari, dicendum est etiam institutam ab intestato posse adire hereditatem: nec enim quae ex testamento adiit, quod putat ualere, repudiare legitimam hereditatem uidetur, quam quidem nescit sibi deferri: cum et hi qui sciant ius suum, eligentes id quod putant sibi competere, non amittant. quod euenit in patrono, qui iudicium defuncti falsa opinione motus amplexus est: is enim non uidetur bonorum possessionem contra tabulas repudiasse. ex quibus apparet non recte totam hereditatem praeteritam uindicare,3 cum rescisso testamento etiam institutae saluum ius sit adeundae hereditatis.
A mother, when dying, instituted a stranger as heir to three-quarters, one daughter to one-quarter, and passed over the other daughter; the latter brought an action on the ground of an inofficious testament and won. I ask how the instituted daughter should be relieved. I replied: the passed-over daughter ought to claim that which she would have had if her mother had died intestate. Therefore, it can be said that if the one who was omitted should claim and obtain the entire inheritance on intestacy, she alone would have the whole succession, just as if the other had renounced the statutory inheritance. But it must not be allowed that she be heard in bringing an action on the ground of an inofficious testament against her sister; furthermore, it must be said that she who entered upon the inheritance under the testament is not like one who renounces; and therefore a half-share must be claimed from the stranger, and it must be maintained that the whole half-share is to be taken away from him, as if the entire half-share belonged to her. According to this, the testament is not invalidated in its entirety, but is made intestate in part, even though her last will is condemned as if that of a madwoman. But if anyone should think that the entire testament is invalidated when the daughter wins, it must be said that even the instituted daughter can enter upon the inheritance on intestacy; for she who entered under the testament, which she believed to be valid, does not seem to renounce the statutory inheritance, which indeed she does not know is being offered to her; since even those who know their right, when choosing that which they think belongs to them, do not lose the other. This occurs in the case of a patron who, moved by a false opinion, has accepted the will of the deceased; for he is not deemed to have renounced the possession of goods contrary to the tablet. From these things it appears that the passed-over daughter does not rightly claim the entire inheritance, since even when the testament is rescinded, the instituted daughter’s right to enter upon the inheritance remains safe.
- 5.2.19.prex dodrante ... ex quadrante ... semissem
In Roman law, shares of inheritance are calculated using a duodecimal system based on the 'as.' Thus, dodrans represents nine-twelfths (three-quarters), quadrans represents three-twelfths (one-quarter), and semis represents six-twelfths (one-half).
- 5.2.19.prquasi furiosae iudicium ultimum eius damnetur
iudicium ultimum refers to the final will (testament). This phrase reflects the Roman legal fiction (color insaniae) that a testator who unjustifiably disinherited close relatives must have been of unsound mind ('as if of a madwoman,' quasi furiosae) when making the testament, which is therefore condemned (damnetur).
- 5.2.19.prnon recte totam hereditatem praeteritam uindicare
The subject accusative of the infinitive uindicare is the adjective praeteritam, which modifies an implied filiam. The accusative-with-infinitive clause 'that the passed-over daughter claims the entire inheritance' functions as the subject of apparet.