Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.2.41.pr

Construing a Legacy of Annual Fruits as a Usufruct

Passage 4993 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Labeo expresses the view that a bequest of "the annual fruits of an estate" should be understood as a bequest of the usufruct, in accordance with the assumed intention of the testator.

[IAUOLENUS libro secundo ex posterioribus Labeonis. ] §33.2.41.prCum ita legatum esset: 'fructus annuos fundi Corneliani Publio Maeuio do lego', perinde putat accipiendum esse Labeo, ac si usus fructus fundi similiter esset legatus, quia haec mens fuisse testatoris uideatur.
[JAVOLENUS, Book Two of the Epitome of Labeo's Last Works.] When a bequest had been made in this manner: "I give and bequeath the annual fruits of the Cornelian estate to Publius Maevius," Labeo thinks that it should be understood in the same way as if the usufruct of the estate had been bequeathed in like manner, because this seems to have been the intention of the testator.

Notes

  1. §33.2.41.prperinde... ac si... esset legatus — The phrase "perinde... ac si" takes the subjunctive (here the imperfect subjunctive "esset legatus") to express a hypothetical comparison ("just as if..."). Through this construction, the actual wording ("fructus annuos") is legally equated with the substance of "usus fructus".
  2. §33.2.41.pruideatur — The subjunctive is used in the causal clause "quia" because it represents a subjective reason in the mind of Labeo (the subject of "putat"), or because it is subordinate in indirect discourse, rather than an objective fact asserted by the writer (Javolenus).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.2.41.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.2.41.pr

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