Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.2.35.pr

Timing of Subsequent Bequest upon End of Term Usufruct

Passage 4987 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a testament bequeathing the usufruct of a villa to the wife for five years and then the land to freedmen, it is determined that if the wife dies within the five years, the ownership accrues to the freedmen only after the completion of the five-year period.

[IDEM libro uicesimo secundo digestorum. ] §33.2.35.prUxori usum fructum uillae legauit in quinquennium a die mortis suae, deinde haec uerba adiecit: 'et peracto quinquennio, cum eius usus fructus esse desierit, tunc eum fundum illi et illi libertis dari uolo'.
[THE SAME, From the Twenty-Second Book of his Digests.] He bequeathed to his wife the usufruct of a villa for five years from the day of his death, and then added these words: 'and when the five years have elapsed, when her usufruct has ceased to exist, then I wish that land to be given to such and such freedmen'.
quaesitum est, cum uxor intra quinquennium decesserit, an libertis proprietatis petitio iam an uero impleto quinquennio competat, quia 'peracto quinquennio' testator proprietatem legauerat.
It was asked, if the wife should die within the five years, whether the claim for the property belongs to the freedmen immediately, or rather when the five years are completed, because the testator had bequeathed the property 'when the five years have elapsed'.
respondit post completum quinquennium fundum ad libertos pertinere.
He answered that the land belongs to the freedmen after the completion of the five years.

Notes

  1. §33.2.35.prcum eius usus fructus esse desierit — The conjunction cum is temporal ('when'). The genitive pronoun eius refers to uxoris in the preceding clause. The verb esse is used here in the sense of 'to exist' or 'to remain active', functioning as an infinitive complementing desierit (future perfect or perfect subjunctive of desinere, 'to cease').
  2. §33.2.35.pran libertis proprietatis petitio iam an uero impleto quinquennio competat — A double indirect question structure introduced by an ... an uero ... ('whether ... or indeed ...'). The dative libertis depends on the verb competat ('belongs to' or 'is available to'), of which proprietatis petitio ('claim for the property') is the subject. impleto quinquennio is an ablative absolute.
  3. §33.2.35.prpost completum quinquennium — The preposition post with the perfect participle completum and the noun quinquennium functions as a dominant participle construction (like the 'ab urbe condita' construction), meaning 'after the completion of the five years'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.2.35.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.2.35.pr

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