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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.73.pr-30.1.73.1

Interpretation of Legacies to Pay and Validity to Villages

Passage 4669 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains that a testamentary command to bring it about that someone has a sum is construed as an obligation to pay, and notes an imperial rescript validating legacies to villages just like cities.

[GAIUS libro tertio de legatis ad edictum praetoris. ] §30.1.73.prSi heres iussus sit facere, ut Lucius centum habeat, cogendus est heres centum dare, quia nemo facere potest, ut ego habeam centum, nisi mihi dederit.
[GAIUS, Book 3 on Legacies, on the Edict of the Praetor.] If an heir has been ordered to bring it about that Lucius has a hundred, the heir must be compelled to give a hundred; because no one can bring it about that I have a hundred, unless he has given them to me.
§30.1.73.1Uicis legata perinde licere capere atque ciuitatibus rescripto imperatoris nostri significatur.
It is indicated by a rescript of our Emperor that it is permitted for villages to receive legacies in the exact same manner as for cities.

Notes

  1. 30.1.73.prfacere, ut Lucius centum habeat — The ut clause with the subjunctive follows facere to form a substantive clause of result or purpose ("to bring it about that Lucius has a hundred"). Such a testamentary command of doing something (facere) is interpreted as substantially equivalent to giving (dare).
  2. 30.1.73.prnisi mihi dederit — dederit is either the perfect subjunctive active or the future perfect indicative third-person singular. In explaining the general rule, the perspective shifts from the third person ("Lucius") to the first person ("ego", "mihi").
  3. 30.1.73.1Uicis — Dative plural of the second-declension noun uicus (village, ward). Although homonymous with the genitive singular of the third-declension noun uicis (change, turn), it is here contrasted with ciuitatibus (cities, dative plural) and functions as the dative complement of the impersonal verb licere.
  4. 30.1.73.1legata perinde licere capere atque ciuitatibus — Accusative and infinitive construction, where licere is the infinitive. legata (legacies) is the accusative object of capere (to take or receive). perinde ... atque indicates comparison ("in the exact same manner as").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.73.pr-30.1.73.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.73.pr-30.1.73.1

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