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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.94.pr

Bequest of Land under Condition of Retaining Family Name

Passage 4918 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a bequest of land to three freedmen with a request to keep it in the family name, the jurists determine the validity of a share left to another freedman by the first to die, and the distribution of claims if no one was appointed.

[UALENS libro secundo fideicommissorum. ] §32.0.94.prIs, qui complures libertos relinquebat, tribus ex his fundum legauerat et petierat, ut curarent, ne de nomine suo exiret.
[SCAEVOLA, from his third book of Responses.] A man who was leaving several freedmen had bequeathed an estate to three of them and had requested that they take care that it should not go out of his name.
quaerebatur, ex tribus qui primus moriebatur utrum utrique uel alteri ex his, qui sibi in legato coniuncti essent, relinquere partem suam deberet, an possit uel alii conliberto suo eam relinquere.
It was asked whether the one of the three who died first ought to leave his share to both or either of those who had been joined with him in the legacy, or whether he could leave it even to another fellow freedman of his.
placuit, etsi uoluntatis quaestio esset, satis illum facturum, etsi alii reliquisset.
It was held that, although it was a question of intention, he would satisfy the requirement even if he left it to another fellow freedman.
quod si nulli dedisset, occupantis an omnium conlibertorum et num eorum tantum, quibus pariter legatum esset, petitio fideicommissi esset, dubitabatur.
But if he had given it to no one, it was doubted whether the petition for the fideicommissum belonged to the first occupier, or to all the fellow freedmen, or only to those to whom it had been equally bequeathed.
et Iulianus recte omnibus debere putauit.
And Julianus rightly thought that it was owed to all.

Notes

  1. §32.0.94.prde nomine suo — The expression "not to go out of his name" (de nomine suo) is a standard formula prohibiting the transfer of the bequeathed property to outsiders outside the circle of the patron's freedmen (familia).
  2. §32.0.94.prsatis illum facturum — An accusative with infinitive clause where the omitted subject accusative illum refers to "the one of the three who died first" (qui primus moriebatur). Satis facere means to satisfy the testator's request (fideicommissum).
  3. §32.0.94.proccupantis — Genitive of the present participle occupans (one who occupies), functioning as a possessive genitive qualifying petitio, presenting the option of whether the petition belongs to the person who physically takes possession first.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.94.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.94.pr

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