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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.5.42.pr

Tiberius' Decision on the Inheritance of Parthenius

Passage 4221 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius cites a precedent where Emperor Tiberius decided that an inheritance should be divided between the emperor (as master) and the substitute heir, in the case of Parthenius, a slave of Caesar who was mistakenly appointed heir as freeborn.

[POMPONIUS libro duodecimo ex uariis lectionibus. ] §28.5.42.pret hoc Tiberius Caesar constituit in persona Parthenii, qui tamquam ingenuus heres scriptus adierat hereditatem, cum esset Caesaris seruus: nam diuisa hereditas est inter Tiberium et eum qui Parthenio substitutus erat, ut refert Sextus Pomponius.
[POMPONIUS, in the twelfth book of various readings.] And Tiberius Caesar decided this in the case of Parthenius, who, although he was a slave of Caesar, had entered upon the inheritance having been appointed heir as if he were freeborn; for the inheritance was divided between Tiberius and him who had been substituted for Parthenius, as Sextus Pomponius reports.

Notes

  1. §28.5.42.prin persona Parthenii — "In the case of Parthenius" or "regarding the person of Parthenius". This expression indicates that the general rule established in the previous section (41.pr)—concerning an inheritance divided when a slave, believed to be free, enters by order of his master—was applied to a specific concrete case of an individual.
  2. §28.5.42.prcum esset Caesaris seruus — A cum-clause with the subjunctive imperfect esset, expressing here a concessive meaning ("although he was a slave of Caesar") or situational context. It highlights the contrast between his being appointed heir as if freeborn (ingenuus) and his actual status as a slave of the Emperor.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.5.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.5.42.pr

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