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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.4.6.pr

Criteria of Preference for the Depositary of a Will

Passage 3253 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In case of a dispute or doubt regarding who should deposit a will, this section outlines the criteria of preference based on age, social standing, gender, and status of birth.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagesimo ad edictum. ] §22.4.6.prSi de tabulis testamenti deponendis agatur et dubitetur, cui eas deponi oportet, semper seniorem iuniori et amplioris honoris inferiori et marem feminae et ingenuum libertino praeferemus.
[ULPIANUS from the fiftieth book on the Edict.] If there is a dispute regarding the depositing of a will, and it is doubted with whom it ought to be deposited, we shall always prefer an older person to a younger, one of higher honor to an inferior, a male to a female, and a freeborn person to a freedman.

Notes

  1. §22.4.6.prde tabulis testamenti deponendis agatur — deponendis is a gerundive agreeing with the noun tabulis, representing the action to be performed on the object. The verb agatur is the third-person singular present subjunctive passive, used impersonally to mean "it is disputed" or "action is brought."
  2. §22.4.6.pramplioris honoris inferiori — amplioris honoris is a genitive of quality, functionally equivalent to an accusative noun phrase like "a person of higher honor" which serves as the direct object of praeferemus. In contrast, the compared inferiori is in the dative, governed by the construction of praeferre (to prefer someone to another).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.4.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.4.6.pr

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