Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.2.30.pr

Institution or Disinherison of Children and Passing over Sons

Passage 4152 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains that the primary rule in drawing up a will is either to appoint or disinherit children in power, and that passing over a son in power renders the will invalid.

[GAIUS libro septimo decimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §28.2.30.prInter cetera, quae ad ordinanda testamenta necessario desiderantur, principale ius est de liberis heredibus instituendis uel exheredandis, ne praeteritis istis rumpatur testamentum: namque filio qui in potestate est praeterito inutile est testamentum.
Among other things which are of necessity required for drawing up wills, the primary rule concerns appointing children as heirs or disinheriting them, lest by passing them over the will be broken: for if a son who is in power is passed over, the will is of no effect.

Notes

  1. §28.2.30.prde liberis heredibus instituendis uel exheredandis — A gerundive construction in the ablative case governed by the preposition de, with liberis functioning as the logical object. It refers to the fundamental principle of Roman succession law regarding the appointment or disinheriting of children.
  2. §28.2.30.prpraeteritis istis — An ablative absolute construction formed by the demonstrative pronoun istis (referring to the previously mentioned liberi) and the perfect participle praeteritis, expressing condition or cause ('if they are passed over' or 'by passing them over').
  3. §28.2.30.prfilio ... praeterito — An ablative absolute with filio and praeterito, expressing a hypothetical condition: 'if a son (who is in power) is passed over'. Although it is grammatically possible to construe it as a dative of disadvantage modifying inutile, it is conventionally read as an ablative absolute in classical jurisprudential texts.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.2.30.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.2.30.pr

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