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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.65.pr-31.0.65.3

Changes in Aggregate Legacies and Slave Manumission

Passage 4792 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses how changes, increases, or decreases in the components of a legacy (such as a peculium, a household of slaves, or a chariot) affect its validity, and details the requirements for the legacy and manumission of a slave bequeathed to a co-heir to take effect after that heir's death.

[IDEM libro sexto decimo quaestionum. ] §31.0.65.prPeculium legatum augeri et minui potest, si res peculii postea esse incipiant aut desinant.
[THE SAME in the sixteenth book of Questions.] A legacy of a peculium can be increased or diminished, if things begin or cease to belong to the peculium afterwards.
idem in familia erit, siue uniuersam familiam suam siue certam (ueluti urbanam aut rusticam) legauerit ac postea seruorum officia uel ministeria mutauerit.
The same will hold true for a household of slaves, whether he has bequeathed his entire household or a specific one (such as the urban or rustic household) and has subsequently changed the duties or services of the slaves.
eadem sunt lecticariis aut pedisequis legatis.
The same rules apply when litter-bearers or footmen are bequeathed.
§31.0.65.1Quadrigae legatum equo postea mortuo perire quidam ita credunt, si equus ille decessit qui demonstrabat quadrigam: sed si medio tempore deminuta suppleatur, ad legatarium pertinebit.
Some believe that a legacy of a four-horse chariot perishes if a horse subsequently dies, but only if that horse has died which gave the chariot its character; however, if the deficit is supplied in the intervening time, it will belong to the legatee.
§31.0.65.2Titio Stichus legatus post mortem Titii libertatem accepit: et legatum adita hereditate et libertas post mortem Titii competit.
Stichus, bequeathed to Titius, received his freedom after the death of Titius: both the legacy is due upon the acceptance of the inheritance, and the freedom is due after the death of Titius.
idemque est et si moriente Titio liber esse iussus est.
The same is true even if he was ordered to be free at the moment Titius dies.
§31.0.65.3Si tamen Titio ex parte herede instituto seruus legatus sit et post mortem eius liber esse iussus sit, siue adierit hereditatem Titius siue non adierit post cuius mortem libertas ei data est, defuncto eo libertas competit.
If, however, a slave is bequeathed to Titius, who has been instituted as heir for a part, and the slave is ordered to be free after Titius's death, whether Titius, after whose death freedom was given to the slave, has accepted the inheritance or has not, freedom is due upon his death.

Notes

  1. 31.0.65.prfamilia — In Roman law, familia often refers to the 'household of slaves' subject to the head of the household. Here, it discusses how changes in the individual composition or the duties of slaves affect the identity of the household as the object of a legacy.
  2. 31.0.65.1deminuta suppleatur — deminuta (the diminished parts) is a nominative neuter plural acting as the subject of the conditional clause si... suppleatur. It refers to the situation where the number of horses in the chariot was temporarily reduced and then replenished.
  3. 31.0.65.2adita hereditate — Ablative absolute ('the inheritance having been accepted'). Since a legacy (legatum) in a will only takes effect upon the acceptance of the inheritance (aditio hereditatis) by the heir, this indicates that requirement.
  4. 31.0.65.3siue adierit hereditatem Titius siue non adierit — adierit is in the future perfect indicative. It means that whether Titius, who was appointed as a co-heir (for a part), accepted his share of the inheritance or not, the validity of the legacy of the slave to him and the subsequent manumission becomes established upon the occurrence of Titius's death.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.65.pr-31.0.65.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.65.pr-31.0.65.3

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