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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.27.pr

Single Legacy in Alternative and Contrary Conditions

Passage 4753 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Celsus argues that an alternative bequest, or different things bequeathed under contrary conditions involving different heirs and legatees, constitutes only a single bequest.

[CELSUS libro trigesimo quarto digestorum. ]
[CELSUS, in the thirty-fourth book of the digests.] If either this or that is bequeathed, there is only one bequest.
§31.0.27.prSi illud aut illud legatum sit, unum legatum est. si sub contrariis condicionibus aliud atque aliud legatum est, unum legatum esse arbitramur.
If different things are bequeathed under contrary conditions, we consider that there is only one bequest.
neque refert et heredum et eorum quibus legatum est diuersas personas esse, ueluti si ita legatum est: 'si Nerua consul factus erit, Titius heres Attio fundum, si non erit Nerua consul factus, Seius heres Maeuio centum dato'.
And it makes no difference that the persons of both the heirs and those to whom the bequest is made are different, as for example, if it is bequeathed thus: 'If Nerva should be made consul, let Titius as heir give the land to Attius; if Nerva should not be made consul, let Seius as heir give one hundred to Maevius.'

Notes

  1. 31.0.27.prneque refert et heredum et eorum quibus legatum est diuersas personas esse — The accusative with infinitive clause 'diuersas personas esse' serves as the subject of the impersonal verb 'refert'. The genitives 'et heredum et eorum...' modify 'personas'.
  2. 31.0.27.prdato — The third-person singular future imperative of the verb dare. Although it appears only at the end of the entire formula, it also governs the first clause 'Titius heres Attio fundum' where the verb is omitted.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.27.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.27.pr

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