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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.1.5.pr

Age Requirement for Testaments and the Moment of Completion

Passage 4095 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the legal age required to make a testament (fourteen for males, twelve for females) and the exact moment when this period is deemed completed (either on the birthday itself or after midnight on the preceding day).

[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad Sabinum. ] §28.1.5.prA qua aetate testamentum uel masculi uel feminae facere possunt, uideamus.
[ULPIAN, in the sixth book on Sabinus.] Let us see from what age either males or females can make a testament.
uerius est in masculis quidem quartum decimum annum spectandum, in feminis uero duodecimum completum.
It is more correct that in the case of males indeed the fourteenth year must be regarded, but in the case of females the completed twelfth year.
utrum autem excessisse debeat quis quartum decimum annum, ut testamentum facere possit, an sufficit complesse? propone aliquem kalendis Ianuariis natum testamentum ipso natali suo fecisse quarto decimo anno: an ualeat testamentum? dico ualere.
But whether must someone have exceeded his fourteenth year, so that he can make a testament, or is it sufficient to have completed it? Suppose that someone born on the Kalends of January made a testament on his very birthday in his fourteenth year: is the testament valid? I say that it is valid.
plus arbitror, etiamsi pridie kalendarum fecerit post sextam horam noctis, ualere testamentum: iam enim complesse uidetur annum quartum decimum, ut Marciano uidetur.
I think even more, that even if he made it on the day before the Kalends after the sixth hour of the night, the testament is valid; for he already seems to have completed the fourteenth year, as it seems to Marcian.

Notes

  1. 28.1.5.prpropone aliquem ... fecisse — The imperative 'propone' (second-person singular present imperative of 'proponere', meaning 'suppose' or 'assume') governs an accusative and infinitive construction, with 'aliquem' as the subject accusative and 'fecisse' as the perfect active infinitive.
  2. 28.1.5.prpridie kalendarum ... post sextam horam noctis — This refers to the civil computation of time (computatio civilis) under Roman law, where a period is deemed completed as soon as its last day (December 31, the day before the Kalends of January) has begun (ultimus dies coeptus pro completo habetur). Since the 'sixth hour of the night' refers to midnight, any time after midnight on the preceding day satisfies the completion of the fourteenth year.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.1.5.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.1.5.pr

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