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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.2.11.pr

Inclusion of Plain Gold in a Legacy of Gold and Gems

Passage 5170 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Proculus explains that a bequest of "gold, and the gems and pearls in it" is interpreted as including the gold itself, even if it contains no gems or pearls.

[PROCULUS libro quinto epistularum. ] §34.2.11.prSi quis legauerit aurum gemmas margaritas quae in eo auro essent, etiam id aurum, cui neque gemmae neque margaritae in- essent, legasse uidetur.
[PROCULUS, in his fifth book of Epistles.] If anyone has bequeathed "gold, and the gems and pearls which were in that gold," he is deemed to have bequeathed also that gold in which there were neither gems nor pearls.

Notes

  1. §34.2.11.prquae in eo auro essent — The relative pronoun `quae` is feminine plural nominative, and its antecedents are the feminine nouns `gemmas` and `margaritas`. It does not include the neuter noun `aurum`. Thus, the objects of the bequest are divided into "gold" (aurum) itself and "the gems and pearls which are in that gold" (gemmas margaritas quae...). The second half of the sentence confirms that the gold itself is bequeathed, even if it contains no gems or pearls.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.2.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.2.11.pr

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