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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.8.2.pr

Incomprehensible Terms in a Will and Remaining Validity

Passage 5302 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Alfenus Varus states that provisions in a testament whose meaning cannot be understood are treated as if they had not been written, while the remaining valid parts of the testament remain effective.

[ALFENUS UARUS libro quinto digestorum. ] §34.8.2.prQuae in testamento scripta essent neque intellegerentur quid significarent, ea perinde sunt ac si scripta non essent: reliqua autem per se ipsa ualent.
[ALFENUS VARUS in the fifth book of the Digests.] Those things which had been written in a testament and it was not understood what they meant, these are just as if they had not been written; but the remaining provisions are valid of themselves.

Notes

  1. §34.8.2.prQuae in testamento scripta essent — The verbs `essent` and `intellegerentur` in the relative clause introduced by `Quae` are in the subjunctive mood to express a hypothetical or generic characteristic ("such things as might be written and not understood") rather than a single concrete fact.
  2. §34.8.2.prquid significarent — This is an indirect question clause dependent on `intellegerentur`. Under the rules of the sequence of tenses (consecutio temporum), the imperfect subjunctive `significarent` is used because the governing verb `intellegerentur` is in a secondary tense.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.8.2.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.8.2.pr

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