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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.5.32.pr-28.5.32.1

Invalidity of Delegation and Institution of Captives

Passage 4211 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk explains the invalidity of instituting heirs based on another's decision, and details the legal validity and consequences of designating a captive in the hands of the enemy or his slave as an heir.

[IDEM libro primo de testamentis ad edictum praetoris urbani. ] §28.5.32.prIlla institutio 'quos Titius uoluerit' ideo uitiosa est, quod alieno arbitrio permissa est: nam satis constanter ueteres decreuerunt testamentorum iura ipsa per se firma esse oportere, non ex alieno arbitrio pendere.
[THE SAME, in the first book on the edict of the urban praetor.] That institution "those whom Titius shall have wished" is for this reason defective, because it has been left to the decision of another; for the ancients decided with sufficient constancy that the laws of testaments ought to be firm in themselves, and not depend on the decision of another.
§28.5.32.1Is qui apud hostes est recte heres instituitur, quia iure postliminii omnia iura ciuitatis in personam eius in suspenso retinentur, non abrumpuntur: itaque si reuersus fuerit ab hostibus, adire hereditatem poterit.
He who is in the hands of the enemy is rightly instituted as heir, because by the right of postliminium all rights of citizenship are held in suspense in his person and are not broken off; therefore, if he returns from the enemy, he will be able to accept the inheritance.
seruus quoque eius recte heres instituitur et, si reuersus sit ab hostibus, potest eum iubere adire hereditatem: si uero ibi decesserit, qui ei heres existet potest per seruum heres fieri.
His slave also is rightly instituted as heir, and, if he returns from the enemy, he can order him to accept the inheritance; but if he dies there, whoever becomes his heir can become heir through the slave.

Notes

  1. §28.5.32.prtestamentorum iura ipsa per se firma esse oportere — Accusative with Infinitive (AcI) construction following the verb `decreuerunt`. `testamentorum iura` serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive `esse`, embedded within the impersonal construction `oportere`.
  2. §28.5.32.1iure postliminii — The Roman legal institution of "postliminium," which designates the legal fiction whereby a Roman citizen captured by the enemy, upon returning alive, recovers retroactively all civil rights suspended during captivity.
  3. §28.5.32.1qui ei heres existet — The pronoun `ei` is a dative referring to the master who died in enemy hands. Thus, `qui ei heres existet` means "he who shall stand as heir to him (the deceased master)" upon his death in captivity.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.5.32.pr-28.5.32.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.5.32.pr-28.5.32.1

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