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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.79.pr

Interpretation of a Legacy of a Sum to Two Persons

Passage 4675 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that a testamentary order to give "ten" to two persons has no ambiguity and cannot be interpreted as meaning "ten each" (twenty in total).

[IULIANUS libro quinto digestorum. ] §30.1.79.prSi quis testamento suo Titio et Seio decem dari iusserit, nullam haec uerba recipiunt ambiguitatem, ut dena dixisse uideatur, qui decem dixit.
[JULIANUS, Digest, Book 5.] If anyone in his will has ordered ten to be given to Titius and Seius, these words admit of no ambiguity, such that he who said 'ten' should be deemed to have said 'ten each'.

Notes

  1. §30.1.79.prut dena dixisse uideatur, qui decem dixit — The clause introduced by the conjunction `ut` expresses the specific content or consequence of the main clause's `nullam ... ambiguitatem` (no ambiguity). By contrasting the distributive numeral `dena` (ten each) with the cardinal numeral `decem` (ten), it indicates that there is no ambiguity that would allow the one who said "ten" to be deemed (`uideatur`) to have said "ten each" (i.e., twenty in total). The subject is the relative clause `qui decem dixit` (he who said ten).
  2. §30.1.79.prtestamento suo — Ablative of means or place, meaning "in his will".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.79.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.79.pr

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