Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.4.11.pr

Diminution Rather Than Extinction of a Legacy

Passage 5243 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is explained that when a specific slave is excluded from a general legacy of a slave, the legacy itself is not extinguished but merely diminished in its scope.

[IDEM libro quinquagesimo quarto digestorum. ] §34.4.11.prQui hominem legat et Stichum adimit, non peremit legatum, sed extenuat,

[THE SAME in the fifty-fourth book of Digest.] He who bequeaths a slave and revokes the bequest of Stichus does not extinguish the legacy, but diminishes it;

Notes

§34.4.11.prhominem — The noun "homo" (literally "man") in the context of Roman legacies refers to "a slave" as the object of a generic legacy, where a specific individual is not initially designated.
§34.4.11.prnon peremit legatum, sed extenuat — This contrasts the complete invalidation (extinguishment) of the legacy as a whole with the mere reduction (diminution) of its scope, meaning that the general legacy of a slave remains valid but the choice is restricted by excluding Stichus.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.4.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.4.11.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.