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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.101.pr-32.0.101.1

Pledged Land and the Scope of an Estate Bequeathed As Is

Passage 4925 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Scaevola answers regarding whether land held in pledge is included in a bequest, and what is covered by a bequest of an estate "just as it is" (such as tenants' arrears and slaves).

[SCAEUOLA libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §32.0.101.prQui habebat in prouincia, ex qua oriundus erat, propria praedia et alia pignori sibi data ob debita, codicillis ita scripsit: τῇ γλγκγτάτη μου πατρίδι Βούλομαι εἰς τὰ μέρη αὐτῆς δοθήναι ἀφορίζω αὐτῇ χωρία πάντα, ὅca ἐν Συρíᾳ κέκτημαι, σύν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐνοῦσιν βοσκήμασιν δούλοις καρποῖς ἀποθέτοις κατασκευαῖς πάσαις'.
[SCAEVOLA, from his sixteenth book of Digests.] A person who had, in the province from which he originated, his own estates and other estates given to him in pledge for debts, wrote as follows in his codicils: "I wish [it] to be given to my dearest fatherland, for its parts; I allocate to her all the estates which I possess in Syria, together with all the livestock, slaves, stored crops, and all equipment therein." The question arose whether the testator was also deemed to have left to his fatherland the estates which he held in pledge.
quaesitum est, an etiam praedia, quae pignori habuit testator, patriae suae reliquisse uideatur. respondit secundum ea quae proponerentur non uideri relicta, si modo in proprium patrimonium (quod fere cessante debitore fit) non sint redacta.
He replied that, according to the facts presented, they were not deemed to have been left, provided they had not been reduced into his own patrimony (which usually happens when the debtor defaults).
§32.0.101.1'Peto fundum meum ita, uti est, alumnae meae dari'. quaesitum est, an fundo et reliqua colonorum et mancipia, si qua mortis tempore in eo fundo fuerint, debeantur.
"I request my estate to be given to my foster-daughter just as it is." The question arose whether, together with the estate, the arrears of the tenants and the slaves, if any were on that estate at the time of death, were owed.
respondit reliqua quidem colonorum non esse legata, cetera uero uideri illis uerbis 'ita uti est' data.
He replied that the arrears of the tenants were indeed not bequeathed, but other things were deemed to have been given by those words "just as it is".

Notes

  1. §32.0.101.prτῇ γλγκγτάτη — A scribal error for the dative τῇ γλυκυτάτῃ ('to my dearest'). The error likely arose from a confusion between γ and υ in the manuscript tradition.
  2. §32.0.101.prcessante debitore — An ablative absolute construction with a present participle ('upon the debtor defaulting'). It describes the process where, due to the debtor's failure to perform (cessare), the pledged property becomes part of the creditor's (testator's) own estate (patrimonium).
  3. §32.0.101.1reliqua colonorum — reliqua is a neuter plural noun meaning 'arrears' or 'outstanding balances.' colonorum is a genitive plural referring to the tenants (coloni), thus denoting the rent arrears owed by them.
  4. §32.0.101.1an fundo et reliqua — fundo is parsed as an ablative of accompaniment without the preposition cum ('along with the estate'), making reliqua and mancipia the subjects of the passive verb debeantur.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.101.pr-32.0.101.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.101.pr-32.0.101.1

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