- 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-lat1:7.1.20.pr
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Ulpian states that a bequest phrased as "the annual fruits of an estate" must be interpreted in the same manner as if the usufruct of the estate itself had been bequeathed.
[ULPIANUS libro octauo decimo ad Sabinum.]
[ULPIANUS in the eighteenth book on Sabinus.]
Si quis ita legauerit: 'fructus annuos1 fundi Corneliani Gaio Maeuio do lego', perinde accipi debet hic sermo ac si usus fructus fundi esset legatus.2
If anyone has bequeathed in this manner: ‘I give and bequeath the annual fruits of the Cornelian estate to Gaius Maevius’, this expression ought to be understood just as if the usufruct of the estate had been bequeathed.
- 7.1.20.prfructus annuos
The combination of the accusative plural noun "fructus" and the adjective "annuos" refers to "annual fruits/revenues". Although the term strictly denotes only the right to gather fruits (fructus), because it is practically impossible to gather fruits annually without the right of use (usus), this is legally interpreted as synonymous with "usufruct" (usus fructus).
- 7.1.20.prperinde accipi debet hic sermo ac si usus fructus fundi esset legatus
The construction "perinde... ac si + subjunctive" (here, the pluperfect passive "esset legatus" in a counterfactual comparison) means "just as if". It shows that to respect the testator's intention, the phrasing "annual fruits" should be interpreted not in a literalistic way, but as legally equivalent to the bequest of the usufruct (usus fructus) itself.