[ULPIANUS libro quinquagesimo primo ad edictum. ] §30.1.71.prSi domus alicui simpliciter sit legata neque adiectum quae domus, cogentur heredes quam uellent domum ex his, quas testator habebat, legatario dare: quod si nullas aedes reliquerit, magis derisorium est quam utile legatum.
[ULPIANUS, Book 51 on the Provincial Edict.] If a house is bequeathed to someone without specification, and it is not added which house, the heirs shall be compelled to give to the legatee whichever house they wish from those which the testator owned; but if he has left no house, the bequest is more mockingly futile than useful.
§30.1.71.1De euictione an cauere debeat is, qui seruum praestat ex causa legati, uideamus.
Let us consider whether he who delivers a slave by virtue of a bequest ought to give security against eviction.
et regulariter dicendum est, quotiens sine iudicio praestita res legata euincitur, posse eam ex testamento peti: ceterum si iudicio petita est, officio iudicis cautio necessaria est, ut sit ex stipulatu actio.
And as a rule it must be said that, whenever a bequeathed thing delivered without a lawsuit is evicted, it can be claimed by an action on the testament; otherwise, if it is claimed by a lawsuit, security is necessary through the office of the judge, so that there may be an action based on a stipulation.
§30.1.71.2In pecunia legata confitenti heredi modicum tempus ad solutionem dandum est nec urguendum ad suscipiendum iudicium: quod quidem tempus ex bono et aequo praetorem obseruare oportebit.
In the case of bequeathed money, a reasonable time for payment must be given to the heir who admits the debt, and he should not be forced to accept a lawsuit; which time indeed it will behove the praetor to determine in accordance with what is good and fair.
§30.1.71.3Qui confitetur se quidem debere, iustam autem causam adfert, cur utique praestare non possit, audiendus est: ut puta si aliena res legata sit negetque dominum eam uendere uel immensum pretium eius rei petere adfirmet, aut si seruum hereditarium neget se debere praestare, forte patrem suum uel matrem uel fratres naturales: aequissimum est enim concedi ei ex hac causa aestimationem officio iudicis praestare.
He who admits indeed that he owes, but adduces a just cause why he absolutely cannot deliver, must be heard; for instance, if a thing belonging to another has been bequeathed, and he says that the owner refuses to sell it, or asserts that he demands an immense price for it, or if he says that he ought not to deliver a slave belonging to the inheritance because, for example, the slave is his own father or mother or natural brothers; for it is most equitable that he be allowed, on this ground, to pay the estimated value through the office of the judge.
§30.1.71.4Cum alicui poculum legatum esset uelletque heres aestimationem praestare, quia iniquum esse aiebat id separari a se, non impetrauit id a praetore: alia enim condicio est hominum, alia ceterarum rerum: in hominibus enim benigna ratione receptum est, quod supra probauimus.
When a cup was bequeathed to someone, and the heir wished to pay the estimated value because he said it was unjust that it should be separated from him, he did not obtain this from the praetor; for the condition of human beings is one thing, that of other things is another; for in the case of human beings, a benevolent principle has been accepted, which we have approved above.
§30.1.71.5Si fundus municipum uectigalis ipsis municipibus sit legatus, an legatum consistat petique possit, uidcamus.
Let us consider whether, if a tributary land of a municipality is bequeathed to the municipality itself, the bequest is valid and can be claimed.
et Iulianus libro trigensimo octauo digestorum scribit, quamuis fundus uectigalis municipum sit, attamen quia aliquod ius in eo is qui legauit habet, ualere legatum.
And Julian writes in the thirty-eighth book of his Digests that, although the tributary land belongs to the municipality, yet because he who bequeathed it has some right in it, the bequest is valid.
§30.1.71.6Sed et si non municipibus, sed alii fundum uectigalem legauerit, non uideri proprietatem rei legatam, sed id ius quod in uectigalibus fundis habemus.
But even if he has bequeathed the tributary land not to the municipality, but to another, it is not deemed that the ownership of the property was bequeathed, but that right which we have in tributary lands.