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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.2.13.pr

Carriages and Servants' Clothing Prepared for the Wife

Passage 5172 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Describes Scaevola's legal response concerning whether a sleeping carriage with mules and clothing for the wife's servants are included in a bequest to a wife of "all women's toilet articles, ornaments, and whatever was procured for her sake."

[SCAEUOLA libro quinto decimo digestorum. ] §34.2.13.prUxori quis legauit his uerbis: 'mundum muliebrem omnem, ornamenta et quidquid uiuus dedi donaui eius causa comparaui confeci, id omne dari uolo': quaesitum est, an carrucha dormitoria cum mulis, cum semper uxor usa sit, ei debeatur.
[SCAEUOLA, in his fifteenth book of Digests.] A certain person made a bequest to his wife in these words: "All the women's toilet articles, ornaments, and whatever I have given, donated, procured, or made for her sake during my lifetime, I wish all of that to be given." The question was raised whether a sleeping carriage with mules, since the wife had always used them, was due to her.
respondit, si eius usus causa habita esset, deberi.
He replied that if it had been kept for her use, it was due.
idem quaesiit, an ex eadem clausula uestis, quam ancillis uel lecticariis eiusdem uxoris suae comparauerat uel fecerat, praestanda esset.
The same person asked whether, under the same clause, the clothing which he had procured or made for the female slaves or litter-bearers of his same wife ought to be provided.
respondit praestandam.
He replied that it ought to be provided.

Notes

  1. §34.2.13.prdedi donaui eius causa comparaui confeci — The pairs dedi donaui ("gave, donated") and comparaui confeci ("procured, made") are examples of asyndeton (omission of conjunctions), typical of formulaic legal language in Roman testaments.
  2. §34.2.13.prcum semper uxor usa sit — The conjunction cum introduces a subjunctive clause of cause ("since the wife had always used them"), grounding the subjective usage of the bequeathed items.
  3. §34.2.13.prpraestandam — This is an accusative with infinitive construction functioning as the object of respondit, with the ellipsis of the auxiliary verb esse. The gerundive praestandam agrees in gender, number, and case with its subject accusative uestis (feminine singular accusative, used collectively).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.2.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.2.13.pr

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