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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.9.9.pr-34.9.9.1

Forfeiture of Legacies Due to Enmity or Insults

Passage 5314 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses how if a serious enmity arises between a testator and a legatee, or if the legatee publicly insults the testator or disputes his status, the claim to the legacy is lost and forfeited to the treasury.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto decimo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §34.9.9.prSi inimicitiae capitales interuenerunt inter legatarium et testatorem et uerisimile esse coeperit testatorem noluisse legatum siue fideicommissum praestari ei, cui adscriptum relictum est, magis est, ut legatum ab eo peti non possit.
[ULPIANUS, in the fourteenth book on the Lex Iulia et Papia.] If deadly enmity has arisen between a legatee and a testator, and it begins to appear probable that the testator did not wish the legacy or fideicommissum to be performed for him to whom it was left in writing, it is more reasonable that the legacy cannot be claimed by him.
§34.9.9.1Sed et si palam et aperte testatori maledixerit et infaustas uoces aduersus eum iactauerit, idem erit dicendum.
But also if he has publicly and openly cursed the testator and hurled ill-omened words against him, the same must be said.
si autem status eius controuersiam monit, denegatur eius quod testamento accepit persecutio: ex qua specie statim fisco deferetur.
If, however, he has raised a dispute regarding his status, the enforcement of what he received under the will is denied; and in this case, it will immediately be forfeited to the treasury.

Notes

  1. §34.9.9.prab eo peti non possit — The phrase ab eo accompanying the passive verb peti represents the agent ('by him', i.e., the legatee), rather than the source ('from him'). Although petere ab aliquo usually means 'to demand from someone,' here the context demands that the legatee himself (eo), who has become hostile to the testator, is the one prevented from making the claim.
  2. §34.9.9.1status eius controuersiam — eius refers to the testator. To raise a dispute regarding the status of the testator (e.g., whether he was a free man or a Roman citizen) is an attempt to invalidate the entire will, which constitutes a major ground for unworthiness (indignitas).
  3. §34.9.9.1eius quod testamento accepit persecutio — eius is the genitive of the neuter demonstrative pronoun id, acting as the antecedent to the relative clause quod testamento accepit ('what he received under the will'), and functions as a genitive depending on the noun persecutio ('enforcement' or 'claim').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.9.9.pr-34.9.9.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.9.9.pr-34.9.9.1

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