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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.1.pr-35.1.1.3

Conditions, Time Limits, and Vesting of Legacies

Passage 5332 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius defines the attachment of a 'day' (certain or uncertain) and a 'condition' to legacies, explaining with concrete examples how these factors affect the vesting of rights and the transferability of the legacy to the legatee's heirs.

[POMPONIUS libro tertio ad Quintum Mucium. ] §35.1.1.prLegatis quae relinquuntur aut dies incertus aut condicio adscribitur aut, si nihil horum factum sit, praesentia sunt, nisi si ui ipsa condicio insit.
To legacies which are left, either an uncertain day or a condition is attached; or, if neither of these has been done, they are due immediately, unless a condition is inherent by its very nature.
§35.1.1.1Cum dies certus adscriptus est, quamuis dies nondum uenerit, solui tamen possunt, quia certum est ea debitu iri.
When a certain day has been attached, although the day has not yet come, they can nevertheless be paid, because it is certain that they will be owed.
§35.1.1.2Dies autem incertus est, cum ita scribitur 'heres meus cum morietur, decem dato': nam diem incertum mors habet eius.
Moreover, an uncertain day is when it is written thus: 'let my heir, when he dies, give ten'; for his death has an uncertain day.
et ideo si legatarius ante decesserit, ad heredem eius legatum non transit, quia non essit dies uiuo eo, quamuis certum fuerit moriturum heredem.
And therefore, if the legatee should die before, the legacy does not pass to his heir, because the day did not vest while he was alive, although it was certain that the heir would die.
§35.1.1.3Inest autem condicio legati, ueluti cum ita legamus: 'quod ex Arescusa natum fuerit, heres dato aut fructus, qui ex eo fundo percepti fuerint, heres dato' aut 'seruum, quem alii non legauero, Seio dato'.
Furthermore, a condition is inherent in a legacy, as when we bequeath thus: 'what shall have been born of Arescusa, let the heir give', or 'the fruits which shall have been gathered from that estate, let the heir give', or 'the slave whom I shall not have bequeathed to another, let the heir give to Seius'.

Notes

  1. §35.1.1.prLegatis quae relinquuntur — Legatis is dative plural, functioning as the indirect object of the verb adscribitur. The relative clause quae relinquuntur refers to an implied antecedent legata (neuter plural nominative), which has been attracted into the dative case of the principal clause.
  2. §35.1.1.prui ipsa — A combination of the ablative singular ui (from uis: force, nature) and the feminine ablative singular ipsa (from ipse). Here it functions as an ablative of means or cause, meaning 'by its own force' or 'by its very nature'.
  3. §35.1.1.1debitu iri — The manuscript spelling debitu iri is a scribal error or an archaic variant for debitum iri, the future passive infinitive of debeo. It forms an accusative-and-infinitive construction with the subject accusative ea, meaning 'that they will be owed'.
  4. §35.1.1.2non essit dies — The manuscript reading non essit dies is a corruption of the legal technical term non cessit dies. Based on the concept of dies cedit (the vesting of the right to a legacy), it indicates that the legacy's right 'did not vest' while the legatee was still alive.
  5. §35.1.1.3heres dato — Dato is the third-person singular future active imperative of do ('let him give'). Heres (the heir) is the nominative subject, reflecting the prescriptive and formal imperative style of Roman testaments.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.1.pr-35.1.1.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.1.pr-35.1.1.3

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