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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.4.29.pr

Loss of Legacy for a Freedman Denounced as Ungrateful

Passage 5261 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that a freedman who received a legacy in the earlier part of a will but was later called ungrateful by the testator in the same document cannot bring an action under the will, as the testator's intention is deemed to have changed.

[PAULUS libro tertio sententiarum. ] §34.4.29.prLibertus, qui in priore parte testamenti legatum acceperat et ingratus postea eadem scriptura a testatore appellatus est, commutata uoluntate actionem ex testamento habere non potest.
[PAULUS in the third book of Opinions.] A freedman, who in the earlier part of a will had received a legacy and was afterwards in the same document called ungrateful by the testator, cannot have an action based on the will, because the intention has been changed.

Notes

  1. §34.4.29.prcommutata uoluntate — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun uoluntate (intention) and the participle commutata (changed). It refers to the change in the testator's intention, rather than that of the subject (libertus), and functions as a causal clause explaining why the freedman cannot have the action.
  2. §34.4.29.pringratus — The subject complement of the verb appellatus est (was called) within the relative clause. It agrees in gender, number, and case with the relative pronoun qui (antecedent: libertus, masculine singular nominative).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.4.29.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.4.29.pr

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