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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.4.1.pr-26.4.1.3

Statutory Tutelage under the Twelve Tables and Inheritance

Passage 3792 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the principle of statutory tutelage under the Twelve Tables—that those who expect the inheritance should assume the tutelage—and discusses exceptional cases where inheritance and tutelage become separated due to gender, loss of rights, or captivity.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §26.4.1.prLegitimae tutelae lege duodecim tabularum adgnatis delatae sunt et consanguineis, item patronis, id est his qui ad legitimam hereditatem admitti possint: hoc summa prouidentia, ut qui sperarent hanc successionem, idem tuerentur bona, ne dilapidarentur.
[ULPIAN, from the fourteenth book on Sabinus.] Statutory tutelages are conferred by the Law of the Twelve Tables upon agnates and consanguinei, and likewise upon patrons, that is, upon those who can be admitted to the statutory inheritance. This was done with the greatest foresight, so that those who hoped for this succession should themselves protect the property, lest it be squandered.
§26.4.1.1Interdum alibi est hereditas, alibi tutela, ut puta si sit consanguinea pupillo: nam hereditas quidem ad adgnatam pertinet, tutela autem ad adgnatum.
Sometimes the inheritance is in one place, and the tutelage in another, as for instance, if there is a female consanguinea of the pupil; for the inheritance indeed belongs to the female agnate, but the tutelage to the male agnate.
item in libertinis, si sit patrona et patroni filius: nam tutelam patroni filius, hereditatem patrona optinebit: tantundemque erit et si sit patroni filia et nepos.
Likewise in the case of freedmen, if there is a female patron and a son of the patron; for the son of the patron will obtain the tutelage, and the female patron the inheritance; and the same will hold true if there is a daughter and a grandson of the patron.
§26.4.1.2Si apud hostes sit frater, inferioris gradus adgnato tutela non defertur: nam et si patronus apud hostes sit, patroni filio tutela non defertur: sed interim a praetore datur.
If a brother is in the hands of the enemy, the tutelage is not conferred upon an agnate of a lower degree; for even if a patron is in the hands of the enemy, the tutelage is not conferred upon the son of the patron; but in the meantime, it is granted by the praetor.
§26.4.1.3Interdum autem etiam sine hereditate tutela defertur, interdum hereditas sine tutela, ut puta in eo qui latitauit, cum seruum suum rogatus esset manumittere: nam generaliter diuus Pius rescripsit Aurelio Basso ius patroni eum non habere, his uerbis: 'Plane tergiuersatio eorum, qui subuertere fideicommissam libertatem uelint, eo modo puniatur, ne ius patroni adquirant in eo, quem liberum esse nolunt'.
Moreover, sometimes tutelage is conferred even without the inheritance, and sometimes the inheritance without the tutelage, as for instance, in the case of one who hid himself when he was requested to manumit his slave; for the deified Pius issued a general rescript to Aurelius Bassus to the effect that such a person does not have the right of a patron, in these words: 'Clearly, the evasion of those who wish to subvert a libertas left by fideicommissum should be punished in such a manner that they do not acquire the right of a patron over him whom they did not want to be free'.
idem erit, si filiae adsignatus libertus sit: tutela quidem apud fratres remanebit, ut Marcellus notat, legitima autem hereditas ad sororem pertinebit.
The same will hold if a freedman has been assigned to a daughter; for the tutelage indeed will remain with the brothers, as Marcellus notes, but the statutory inheritance will belong to the sister.

Notes

  1. §26.4.1.prhoc summa prouidentia — Omission of a past-tense verb (such as "factum est"). The phrase functions as a nominal sentence meaning "this [was done] with the greatest foresight."
  2. §26.4.1.2inferioris gradus adgnato — Dative of the indirect object with the verb "defertur" (is conferred). It indicates that the tutelage is not transferred to an agnate of a lower degree while the brother (the closest agnate) is in the hands of the enemy.
  3. §26.4.1.3puniatur, ne ius patroni adquirant — The present subjunctive "puniatur" expresses a decree or obligation ("should be punished"). The subsequent "ne" clause with the present subjunctive "adquirant," combined with "eo modo," functions as a negative clause of purpose or result, meaning "in such a manner that they do not acquire..."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.4.1.pr-26.4.1.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.4.1.pr-26.4.1.3

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