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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.80.pr-29.2.80.3

Accepting Multiple Shares and Acquisition through Slaves

Passage 4483 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the indivisibility of renouncing multiple shares of an inheritance, the rules of acquisition and condition fulfillment through a slave, and the scope of the rule that an inheritance needs to be entered upon only once.

[PAULUS libro quinto ad legem Iuliam. ] §29.2.80.prSi solus heres ex pluribus partibus fuero institutus, unam partem omittere non possum nec interest, in quibusdam habeam substitutum nec ne.
[PAULUS, from the fifth book On the Lex Julia.] If I alone have been instituted heir for several shares, I cannot renounce one share; nor does it matter whether or not I have a substitute for some of them.
§29.2.80.1Idem puto etiam, si aliis mixtus heredibus ex pluribus partibus heres institutus sim, quod et hic adeundo unam portionem omnes adquiro, si tamen delatae sint.
I hold the same even if, mixed with other heirs, I have been instituted heir for several shares, because here too, by entering upon one share, I acquire all of them, provided however that they have been offered to me.
§29.2.80.2Item si seruus meus ex parte heres institutus sit pure, ex parte sub condicione, dato scilicet coherede, et iussu meo adierit, deinde eo manumisso condicio alterius portionis exstiterit, uerius est non mihi esse adquisitam illam portionem, sed ipsum comitari: omnia enim paria permanere debent in id tempus, quo alterius portionis condicio exstet, ut adquiratur ei, cui prior portio adquisita est.
Likewise, if my slave has been instituted heir to one share unconditionally, and to another share under a condition (a co-heir of course being designated), and he has entered upon the inheritance by my order, and subsequently, after he has been manumitted, the condition of the other share is fulfilled, it is more correct to hold that that share has not been acquired for me, but follows him personally; for all things must remain in the same state up to the time when the condition of the other share is fulfilled, so that it may be acquired for the person for whom the prior share was acquired.
§29.2.80.3Ego quidem puto et si adhuc in potestate sit, iterum adeundum esse, si condicio exstiterit, et illud quod dicimus semel adeundum, in eiusdem persona locum habet, non cum per alium adquirenda est hereditas.
For my part, I think that even if he is still under power, he must enter upon it again when the condition is fulfilled; and the rule we state, that one needs to enter only once, applies in the case of the same person, not when the inheritance is to be acquired through another.

Notes

  1. §29.2.80.prin quibusdam habeam substitutum — in quibusdam is an ellipsis for in quibusdam partibus (in some shares). The subjunctive habeam is used in the indirect question introduced by nec ne (or not), which acts as the subject clause for the impersonal verb interest.
  2. §29.2.80.1si tamen delatae sint — The subject of delatae sint is the implied portiones (shares) derived from portionem / omnes, referring to the offering (delatio) of the inheritance. tamen functions as a restrictive particle meaning 'provided however that'.
  3. §29.2.80.2non mihi esse adquisitam illam portionem, sed ipsum comitari — An accusative-with-infinitive construction governed by uerius est. ipsum is the accusative subject referring to the manumitted slave. comitari is a deponent verb, meaning that the conditional share 'follows' or 'goes with' the slave himself.
  4. §29.2.80.3semel adeundum — A gerundive of obligation with the infinitive esse omitted, referring to the legal maxim 'one must enter upon an inheritance only once'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.80.pr-29.2.80.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.80.pr-29.2.80.3

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