Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.1.35.pr

Validity of Incomplete Soldier Testaments Based on Intent

Passage 4394 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section states that even if a soldier leaves an incomplete testament, the produced writing has the force of a completed testament because it is completed by mere intention, and writing multiple things on different days is also recognized as making a testament.

[IDEM libro nono decimo quaestionum. ] §29.1.35.prMiles si testamentum inperfectum relinquat, scriptura quae profertur perfecti testamenti potestatem optinet: nam militis testamentum sola perficitur uoluntate: quique plura per dies uarios scribit, saepe facere testamentum uidetur.
[THE SAME, in his nineteenth book of Questions.] If a soldier should leave an incomplete testament, the writing which is produced obtains the force of a completed testament; for a soldier's testament is completed by mere intention alone; and he who writes several things on various days is often deemed to make a testament.

Notes

  1. §29.1.35.prperfecti testamenti — Genitive of quality or definition modifying 'potestatem', meaning 'the force of a completed testament' or 'the status of a completed testament'.
  2. §29.1.35.prsola ... uoluntate — Ablative of means or cause. It explains the privileged nature of a soldier's testament, which produces legal effects based solely on the testator's internal 'will' (uoluntas), without requiring the strict formalities of civil law.
  3. §29.1.35.prquique — The conjunction -que ('and') combined with the relative pronoun qui containing its own antecedent ('he who' or 'whoever'). It forms the subject clause for the main verb uidetur. It takes plura (accusative neuter plural, 'several things/writings') as its object.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.1.35.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.1.35.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.