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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.34.pr-35.1.34.1

Functions of Description in Legacies and Its Contrast with Conditions

Passage 5365 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that a description serves in place of a name, meaning a legacy is valid despite an erroneous description if the intended person is certain, and highlights the difference between a description (indicating past facts) and a condition (pointing to the future).

[FLORENTINUS libro undecimo institutionum. ] §35.1.34.prNominatim alicui legatur ita 'Lucio Titio' an per demonstrationem corporis uel artificii uel officii uel necessitudinis uel adfinitatis, nihil interest: nam demonstratio plerumque uice nominis fungitur.
[FLORENTINUS, in the eleventh book of his Institutes.] Whether a legacy is bequeathed to someone by name, such as "to Lucius Titius", or by description of body, trade, office, relationship, or affinity, it makes no difference; for description for the most part serves in place of a name.
nec interest, falsa an uera sit, si certum sit, quem testator demonstrauerit.
Nor does it matter whether it is false or true, if it is certain whom the testator indicated.
§35.1.34.1Inter demonstrationem et condicionem hoc interest, quod demonstratio plerumque factam rem ostendit, condicio futuram.
Between a description and a condition there is this difference, that a description usually indicates a past event, a condition a future one.

Notes

  1. §35.1.34.prlegatur ... an ... — legatur is the present subjunctive passive, forming a concessive or alternative indirect clause ('whether ... or ...') depending on the subsequent phrase nihil interest. The particle an introduces the alternative.
  2. §35.1.34.prvice nominis fungitur — The verb fungor (to perform, serve as) governs the ablative case, hence vice (the ablative singular of vicis, 'turn, place, office') is used.
  3. §35.1.34.prquem testator demonstrauerit — The clause introduced by quem is an indirect question functioning as the subject or complement of certum sit, with the verb demonstrauerit in the perfect subjunctive.
  4. §35.1.34.1factam rem ... futuram — factam rem refers to an event already completed or past, while the contrasted futuram (with rem understood) refers to an event in the future.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.34.pr-35.1.34.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.34.pr-35.1.34.1

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