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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §11.7.16.pr

Funeral Action Against Dowry Recipients

Passage 1820 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that a funerary action is granted against the recipient of a dowry, and outlines the ancient doctrine that women should be buried from their dowries and that the beneficiary of the dowry must contribute to the funeral.

[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo quinto ad edictum. ] §11.7.16.prIn eum, ad quem dotis nomine quid peruenerit, dat praetor funerariam actionem: aequissimum enim uisum est ueteribus mulieres quasi de patrimoniis suis ita de dotibus funerari et eum, qui morte mulieris dotem lucratur, in funus conferre debere, siue pater mulieris est siue maritus.
The praetor grants a funerary action against him to whom anything has come under the name of dowry; for it seemed most equitable to the ancients that women should be buried from their dowries just as if from their own patrimonies, and that he who gains the dowry by the death of the woman ought to contribute to the funeral, whether he is the woman's father or her husband.

Notes

  1. §11.7.16.prueteribus — Dative of person judging, meaning "to the ancients" (i.e., the older jurists).
  2. §11.7.16.prmulieres... funerari et eum... debere — These two accusative with infinitive (AcI) clauses function in parallel as the subject of the impersonal expression `aequissimum uisum est` ("it seemed most equitable").
  3. §11.7.16.prquasi de patrimoniis suis ita de dotibus — The correlative structure `quasi ... ita ...` ("just as if ... so ...") compares the dowry (`dotibus`) with her own patrimony (`patrimoniis`), indicating that the burial expenses should be drawn from the dowry in the same manner as they would be from her own property.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §11.7.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:11.7.16.pr

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