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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.6.pr-35.1.6.1

Absence of an Arbiter and Multiple Emancipation Conditions

Passage 5337 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses that no testamentary penalty is incurred if the person designated to decide on a monument is unavailable, and addresses the legal opinions on whether a condition of heirship involving multiple persons fails if one of them dies beforehand.

[POMPONIUS libro tertio ad Sabinum. ] §35.1.6.prMulta testamento non committitur ab herede uel legatario uel eo qui ex ultima uoluntate aliquid lucratur, qui alicuius arbitratu monumentum facere iussus sit, si is cuius arbitrium est non uiuat uel adesse non possit aut rei arbitrari nolit.
[POMPONIUS in the third book on Sabinus.] A penalty under a will is not incurred by an heir, a legatee, or anyone who gains an advantage from a last will, who has been ordered to build a monument according to the decision of another person, if the person who has the decision is not alive, or cannot be present, or is unwilling to make the decision.
§35.1.6.1Si seruos certos quis manumississet, heres esse iussus erat. quibusdam ex his ante mortuis Neratius respondit defici eum condicione nec aestimabat, parere posset condicioni nec ne.
If anyone had been ordered to be heir if he manumitted certain slaves, and some of them died beforehand, Neratius replied that he failed to satisfy the condition, and he did not consider whether he could have complied with the condition or not.
sed Seruius respondit, cum ita esset scriptum 'si filia et mater 'mea uiuent' altera iam mortua, non defici condicione.
But Servius replied that, where it was written 'if my daughter and my mother are alive', and one of them was already dead, he did not fail to satisfy the condition.
idem est et apud Labeonem scriptum.
The same is also written in Labeo.
Sabinus quoque et Cassius quasi impossibiles eas condiciones in testamento positas pro non scriptis esse, quae sententia admittenda est.
Sabinus and Cassius also held that such conditions, being virtually impossible, when placed in a will, are to be treated as not written; and this opinion is to be accepted.

Notes

  1. §35.1.6.prMulta testamento non committitur — Meaning 'a penalty under a will is not incurred.' Here, 'multa' (fine/penalty) is the subject, and 'committitur' is used in the passive voice to mean that a legal penalty or forfeiture is incurred due to non-fulfillment.
  2. §35.1.6.1Si seruos certos quis manumississet, heres esse iussus erat — This expresses a conditional relationship: 'If anyone had manumitted certain slaves, he was ordered to be heir' (i.e., the manumission of specific slaves was a condition for being appointed heir). The opening 'si' clause modifies the main clause 'heres esse iussus erat.'
  3. §35.1.6.1defici eum condicione — An Accusative with Infinitive (AcI) construction introducing indirect speech after 'respondit.' 'eum' is the subject accusative, 'defici' is the present passive infinitive of 'deficere' (to fail, be lacking), and 'condicione' is an ablative of specification ('to be deficient in respect of the condition,' i.e., to fail to satisfy the condition).
  4. §35.1.6.1quasi impossibiles eas condiciones in testamento positas pro non scriptis esse — A verb of thinking or declaring (such as 'existimaverunt' or 'censuerunt') is omitted after 'Sabinus quoque et Cassius.' The phrase 'pro non scriptis esse' (to be treated as not written) refers to the classical Roman law rule (associated with the Sabinian school) where impossible conditions in a testament are considered void, leaving the testament itself valid.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.6.pr-35.1.6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.6.pr-35.1.6.1

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