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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §10.2.41.pr

Division of Freedmen and Maintenance in Inheritance Partition

Passage 1679 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a dispute over the partition of an inheritance, a judge's division of freedmen and maintenance was appealed. The court ruled that while the agreed maintenance must be maintained, the division of freedmen was null and void.

[PAULUS libro primo decretorum. ] §10.2.41.prQuaedam mulier ab iudice appellauerat, quod diceret eum de diuidenda hereditate inter se et coheredem non tantum res, sed et libertos diuisisse et alimenta, quae dari testator certis libertis iussisset: nullo enim iure id eum fecisse.
[PAULUS, from the first book of Opinions.] A certain woman had appealed from the judge, because she alleged that, in partitioning the inheritance between herself and her co-heir, he had divided not only the property but also the freedmen and the maintenance which the testator had ordered to be given to certain freedmen; for she argued that he had done this with no legal right.
ex diuerso respondebatur consensisse eos diuisioni et multis annis alimenta secundum diuisionem praestitisse.
On the other side, it was answered that they had consented to the division and had for many years provided the maintenance in accordance with that division.
placuit standum esse alimentorum praestationi: sed et illud adiecit nullam esse libertorum diuisionem.
It was decided that the provision of the maintenance must be adhered to; but he also added this, that the division of freedmen was null.

Notes

  1. §10.2.41.prquod diceret — The subjunctive 'diceret' in the 'quod' clause indicates a subjective reason alleged by the appellant ('because she alleged'). Under 'diceret', the actions of the judge ('eum') dividing the property ('diuisisse') and doing so without legal right ('fecisse') are expressed in accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) constructions.
  2. §10.2.41.prstandum esse — An impersonal passive construction using the gerundive of the intransitive verb 'stare' ('to stand by / adhere to'), meaning 'must be adhered to'. It takes the dative 'alimentorum praestationi'. It indicates the legal decision that the division of the provision of maintenance, as agreed upon by the parties, should be upheld.
  3. §10.2.41.prnullam esse — An accusative-with-infinitive construction where the feminine accusative singular 'nullam' of the adjective 'nullus' means 'to be null' or 'void'. In this context, it refers to the legal invalidity of dividing freedmen, as their legal status and personal relations cannot be physically partitioned like property between co-heirs.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §10.2.41.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:10.2.41.pr

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