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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.86.pr-31.0.86.1

Exclusion of House Contents and Legacy of Divided Land

Passage 4815 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk addresses two cases of testamentary interpretation: whether the exclusion of a house and its contents from an inheritance share includes outstanding debts, and whether a single tract of land leased in two parts is bequeathed in its entirety.

[IDEM libro tertio decimo responsorum. ] §31.0.86.pr'Gaius Seius pronepos meus heres mihi esto ex semisse bonorum meorum excepta domu mea et paterna, in quibus habito, cum omnibus quae ibi sunt: quae omnia scias ad portionem hereditatis, quam tibi dedi, non pertinere'. quaero, cum sit in his domibus argentum nomina debitorum supellex mancipia, an haec omnia, quae illic inueniuntur, ad alios heredes institutos debeant pertinere.
[THE SAME, from the thirteenth book of responses.] 'Gaius Seius my great-grandson shall be my heir for a half of my estate, except for my town house and my paternal house, in which I live, with everything that is therein: all of which you must know do not belong to the share of the inheritance which I have given to you.' I ask, since there are in these houses silver, the names of debtors, furniture, and slaves, whether all these things, which are found therein, ought to belong to the other instituted heirs.
Paulus respondi nomina debitorum non contineri, sed omnium esse communia, in ceteris uero nullum pronepoti locum esse.
Paulus replied that the names of debtors are not included, but are common to all, but in the other things, indeed, there is no place for the great-grandson.
§31.0.86.1Titius cum fratris filio fundos et urbana praedia legaret, in his et fundum Seianum legauit, quem ipse pater familias quoad uiueret uno quidem nomine uniuersum habuit, sed quo facilius conductorem inueniret, per duas partes locabat, ita ut ex qualitate loci superiorem partem Scianum superiorem, inferiorem autem partem Seianum inferiorem appellaret.
When Titius bequeathed tracts of land and urban estates to his brother's son, among these he also bequeathed the Seian tract, which the father of the family himself, as long as he lived, held as a whole under one name, but in order to find a tenant more easily, he leased it in two parts, so that, depending on the quality of the location, he called the upper part 'upper Seian' and the lower part 'lower Seian'.
quaero, an is fundus totus ad fratris filium pertineat.
I ask whether that entire tract of land belongs to the brother's son.
Paulus respondit, si testator fundum Seianum uno nomine uniuersum possedit, quamuis eundem diuisis partibus locauerat, uniuersum eum ex causa fideicommissi praestari oportere, nisi si heres, de qua parte testator senserit, euidenter probauerit.
Paulus replied that if the testator possessed the Seian tract as a whole under one name, although he had leased it in divided parts, it ought to be furnished as a whole by virtue of the trust, unless the heir clearly proves which part the testator intended.

Notes

  1. 31.0.86.prrespondi — A scribal variant or error for `respondit` ('he replied'). It is understood as the third-person singular perfect indicative, introducing Paulus's official response.
  2. 31.0.86.prexcepta domu mea et paterna — Ablative absolute construction. `domu` is the ablative singular of the fourth-declension feminine noun `domus` (house). The perfect participle `excepta` is feminine ablative singular, agreeing in gender, number, and case with the nearest noun `domu`.
  3. 31.0.86.prnomina debitorum — Literally 'names of debtors', but in Roman law, this is a technical term referring to book debts or outstanding claims (accounts receivable) registered in the ledger.
  4. 31.0.86.1de qua parte testator senserit — Indirect question clause using the perfect subjunctive `senserit` (third-person singular of `sentio`), meaning 'which part the testator intended (thought of)'. This clause depends on the future perfect/perfect subjunctive verb `probauerit` in the conditional protasis.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.86.pr-31.0.86.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.86.pr-31.0.86.1

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