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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.12.pr

Legacies for Past Cause and Penalties for the Future

Passage 5343 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Through the case of a legacy left to a younger son because the elder took a certain sum from the chest, the text explains the validity of a legacy based on a cause directed to the past, as distinguished from a penalty directed to the future.

[ULPIANUS libro uicesimo quarto ad Sabinum. ] §35.1.12.prSi ita legatum sit: 'quoniam filius maior ex arca mea decem sustulit, heres minor filius decem e medio sumito', debetur legatum, quia idcirco relictum est, ut condicio filiorum exaequaretur.
[ULPIANUS in the twenty-fourth book on Sabinus.] If a legacy has been left in this manner: 'since the elder son has taken ten from my chest, let the younger son who is heir take ten from the common fund', the legacy is due, because it was left for the purpose of equalizing the condition of the sons.
et sane haec causa est: nam causa in praeteritum, poena in futurum confertur.
And indeed, this is a cause; for a cause is referred to the past, a penalty to the future.

Notes

  1. §35.1.12.pre medio — Literally "from the middle", referring to the common property of the co-heirs or the undivided estate as a whole.
  2. §35.1.12.prcausa in praeteritum, poena in futurum confertur — The verb `confertur` is shared with `causa` as well. It contrasts a "cause" (causa), which refers to past facts and validates the legacy, with a "penalty" (poena), which is directed towards future uncertain actions.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.12.pr

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