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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §10.2.57.pr

Irrevocability of Inheritance Partition by Agreement among Brothers

Passage 1695 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinian discusses that the division of a common inheritance by agreement among brothers is a performance of family duty that cannot be revoked, even if no formal decision was made by an arbitrator, unless relief on account of minority intervenes.

[PAPINIANUS libro secundo responsorum. ] §10.2.57.prArbitro quoque accepto fratres communem hereditatem consensu diuidentes pietatis officio funguntur, quam reuocari non oportet, licet arbiter sententiam iurgio perempto non dixerit, si non intercedat aetatis auxilium.
[PAPINIANUS, from the second book of Replies.] Even when an arbitrator has been accepted, brothers who divide a common inheritance by agreement perform a duty of family affection, which ought not to be revoked—even though the arbitrator has not pronounced a decision because the dispute has been resolved—provided that the relief of age does not intervene.

Notes

  1. §10.2.57.prArbitro quoque accepto — An ablative absolute construction. Combined with the particle 'quoque', it introduces a concessive nuance: 'even when an arbitrator has been accepted'.
  2. §10.2.57.prpietatis officio funguntur, quam — The relative pronoun 'quam' (accusative feminine singular) has as its antecedent the genitive modifier 'pietatis' (feminine noun 'pietas') rather than 'officio' (neuter ablative). It refers semantically to the 'duty of family affection'.
  3. §10.2.57.prlicet arbiter ... non dixerit — The conjunction 'licet' (although, even though) takes the subjunctive (here the perfect subjunctive 'dixerit') to form a concessive clause.
  4. §10.2.57.priurgio perempto — An ablative absolute construction, indicating either cause ('because the dispute was extinguished [by the voluntary partition]') or attendant circumstance ('the dispute having been extinguished').
  5. §10.2.57.praetatis auxilium — A technical legal term in Roman law referring to the relief or benefit of age (such as 'in integrum restitutio' on account of minority), which allowed minors under twenty-five to rescind disadvantageous transactions.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §10.2.57.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:10.2.57.pr

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