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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.122.pr-30.1.122.2

Legacies to Cities and Obligations When a Co-heir Defaults

Passage 4720 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the validity of legacies to cities for public honor, ornament, or maintenance of the vulnerable, the scope of liability of a remaining co-heir when another fails to inherit, and the exemption from performing a trust when a legatee's burden equals the value of the legacy.

[PAULUS libro tertio regularum. ] §30.1.122.prCiuitatibus legari potest etiam quod ad honorem ornatumque ciuitatis pertinet: ad ornatum puta quod ad instruendum forum theatrum stadium legatum fuerit: ad honorem puta quod ad munus edendum uenationemue ludos scenicos ludos Circenses relictum fuerit aut quod ad diuisionem singulorum ciuium uel epulum relictum fuerit.
[PAULUS, Rules, Book III] To cities can be bequeathed also that which pertains to the honor and ornament of the city: for ornament, for example, what has been bequeathed for equipping the forum, theater, or stadium; for honor, for example, what has been left for presenting a public show, or a wild beast hunt, or scenic games, or Circus games, or what has been left for distribution among individual citizens or a public feast.
hoc amplius quod in alimenta infirmae aetatis, puta senioribus uel pueris puellisque, relictum fuerit ad honorem ciuitatis pertinere respondetur.
In addition to this, what has been left for the maintenance of the vulnerable age, for example, the elderly or boys and girls, is answered to pertain to the honor of the city.
§30.1.122.1'Lucius Titius et Gaius Seius Publio Maeuio decem dare damnas sunto': Gaius Seius heres non exstitit.
"Let Lucius Titius and Gaius Seius be condemned to give ten to Publius Maevius." Gaius Seius did not become heir.
Sabinus ait Titium solum legatum debiturum: nam Seium pro non scripto habendum esse.
Sabinus says that Titius alone will owe the legacy; for Seius is to be regarded as not written.
haec sententia uera est, hoc est Titius tota decem debebit.
This opinion is correct, that is, Titius will owe the entire ten.
§30.1.122.2Eum cui sub hac condicione fundus legatus est, si centum heredi dedisset, si tantum sit in pretio fundi, quantum heredi dare iussus est, non est legatarius cogendus fideicommissum a se relictum praestare, quoniam nihil ex testamento uidetur capere, qui tantum erogat, quantum accipit.
Regarding a person to whom an estate has been bequeathed under this condition, "if he should have given one hundred to the heir," if the value of the estate is only as much as he was ordered to give to the heir, the legatee is not to be compelled to perform the trust left by him, since he who expends as much as he receives is deemed to take nothing from the testament.

Notes

  1. 30.1.122.prhoc amplius — An adverbial phrase meaning "furthermore" or "in addition to this."
  2. 30.1.122.1dare damnas sunto — A classical formula for creating a legacy (specifically, legatum per damnationem), using the third-person plural future imperative "sunto" (let them be condemned/bound), imposing a strict obligation on the heirs to perform the transfer to the legatee.
  3. 30.1.122.2Eum... non est legatarius cogendus — An anacoluthon or grammatical mismatch, where the sentence starts with the accusative "Eum" (referring to the legatee) as a topic, but the main clause continues with a nominative subject "legatarius" and the passive periphrastic conjugational form "non est cogendus" instead of an accusative with infinitive construction like "eum cogi non oportet."
  4. 30.1.122.2fideicommissum a se relictum — The reflexive pronoun "se" in "a se relictum" refers to the "legatarius" (the legatee). "relictum" here means "imposed" or "charged upon" by the testator, representing a situation where the legatee is further charged with a testamentary trust (fideicommissum) to be performed for a third party.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.122.pr-30.1.122.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.122.pr-30.1.122.2

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