Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.1.37.pr

Disclaimer of Inheritance under a Freedman Soldier's Will

Passage 4396 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the devolution of inheritance when one of two heirs designated by a freedman soldier declines, considering the soldier's testamentary privilege, the patron's rights over a freedman's estate, and the effect of the testator's intention.

[PAULUS libro septimo quaestionum. ] §29.1.37.prSi duobus a milite liberto scriptis heredibus alter omiserit hereditatem, pro ea parte intestatus uidebitur defunctus decessisse, quia miles et pro parte testari potest, et competit patrono ab intestato bonorum possessio, nisi si haec uoluntas defuncti probata fuerit, ut omittente altero ad alterum uellet totam redire hereditatem.
[PAULUS, in his seventh book of Questions.] If, when two heirs have been designated by a freedman who was a soldier, one of them has declined the inheritance, the deceased will be deemed to have died intestate as to that part; for a soldier can make a will even for a part, and the patron is entitled to the possession of goods on intestacy, unless indeed such intention of the deceased is proved, namely, that he wished the entire inheritance to go to the other if one declined.

Notes

  1. §29.1.37.prduobus a milite liberto scriptis heredibus — duobus ... scriptis heredibus is an ablative absolute construction ("when two heirs have been designated"). The prepositional phrase a milite liberto expresses the agent of the passive participle scriptis, with milite and liberto being in apposition ("by a freedman who was a soldier"). This dual status is crucial for the legal context: as a soldier, he enjoys military testamentary privileges, and as a freedman, his inheritance involves the rights of his patron (bonorum possessio).
  2. §29.1.37.pruoluntas defuncti probata fuerit, ut omittente altero ad alterum uellet totam redire hereditatem — The ut-clause (with the subjunctive uellet) functions appositively to explain the content of the noun uoluntas ("the intention that..."). The object of uellet is the accusative and infinitive construction (AcI) totam redire hereditatem ("that the entire inheritance go"), within which the ablative absolute omittente altero ("if one declined") is embedded.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.1.37.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.1.37.pr

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