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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.7.6.pr

Legacy of Land with Debt Ledgers and Judgment Debts

Passage 5063 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In the case of a testatrix who bequeathed equipped estates along with an account book to her grandson, a question is raised whether a debt unpaid by a condemned debtor during her lifetime belongs to the grandson, and the jurist answers in the affirmative.

[SCAEUOLA libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §33.7.6.prNepoti legauerat quae certa regione praedia habuerat ut instructa sunt, cum uino grano calendario, et adiecerat haec uerba: 'quidquid erit cum moriar in illa regione, et quidquid in quacumque specie erit in illa regione, uel quod meum erit'.
[From Scaevola's Digests, Book 16.] A testatrix had bequeathed to her grandson the estates which she had held in a certain region, as they were equipped, together with the wine, grain, and account book, and had added these words: 'whatever there shall be in that region when I die, and whatever shall be in that region in any form whatsoever, or which shall be mine.' While the testatrix was alive, one of the debtors who had been condemned did not make payment during the lifetime of the testatrix.
uiua testatrice unus ex debitoribus condemnatus uiuente testatrice satis non fecit: quaesitum est, an quod ex sententia iudicis deberetur ad nepotem pertineret.
The question was raised whether that which was due under the judge's decision belonged to the grandson.
respondit nihil proponi, cur non deberetur.
He answered that no reason was presented why it should not be due.

Notes

  1. §33.7.6.prcalendario — The word 'calendarium' (normally 'calendar') in Roman law refers to an 'account book' or 'debt ledger' in which loans and interest rates were recorded, named after the Kalends, the settlement day. The bequest here implies not only the transfer of the physical book but also the active debts recorded therein.
  2. §33.7.6.pruiua testatrice ... uiuente testatrice — In the same context, two ablative absolute clauses (one with the adjective 'uiua' and the other with the present participle 'uiuente') are used redundantly with the same subject 'testatrice' (testatrix). This represents a redundancy either for emphasis or a clumsy combination of phrases in the record of the juristic case.
  3. §33.7.6.prnihil proponi, cur non deberetur — In the indirect speech (accusative with infinitive), 'nihil proponi' (nothing is put forward) is the object of the main verb 'respondit', followed by the subjunctive indirect question introduced by 'cur'. The verb 'deberetur' is either impersonal or has as its subject the debt mentioned in the previous sentence ('quod ex sententia iudicis deberetur'), indicating a positive decision that the debt indeed belongs to the grandson.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.7.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.7.6.pr

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