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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §36.1.63.pr

Interpretation of Ambiguous Testamentary Words as Fideicommissum

Passage 5616 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A response of Paulus stating that ambiguous words in a testament written in haste due to illness, which seemed to bequeath a quantity, should be interpreted as intending the restoration of a twelfth share of the inheritance.

[IDEM libro quarto decimo responsorum. ] §36.1.63.prPaulus respondit his uerbis: 'Semproni, heredem te non scripsi festinans per infirmitatem: ideoque ei dari uolo tantum, quantum pro uncia hereditatis competeret' uideri quidem magis quantitatem, quam portionem hereditatis relictam, sed sic accipiendum, uti uideatur de uncia etiam restituenda sensisse.
[THE SAME, Opinions, Book 14] Paulus answered in these words: 'Sempronius, hurrying due to illness, I did not write you as heir; and therefore I wish so much to be given to him as would correspond to a twelfth part of the inheritance': indeed, it seems that a quantity rather than a share of the inheritance was left, but it should be so understood that he appears to have intended also the restoration of the twelfth part.

Notes

  1. §36.1.63.prSemproni ... ei — Although beginning with the second-person vocative `Semproni` and pronoun `te`, the subsequent clause uses the third-person pronoun `ei` ('to him'). This inconsistency reflects the testator's haste due to illness (`festinans per infirmitatem`), or `ei` might refer to a third party, but Paulus' interpretation treats this as a disposition concerning Sempronius.
  2. §36.1.63.pruideri quidem magis quantitatem, quam portionem hereditatis relictam — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction in indirect speech depending on `Paulus respondit`. The subject of `uideri` is `quantitatem... relictam [esse]`, meaning 'it indeed appears that a quantity, rather than a share of the inheritance, was left.'
  3. §36.1.63.prde uncia etiam restituenda sensisse — `sensisse` is the perfect infinitive of `sentio` (to mean, intend). `de uncia... restituenda` (concerning the restoration of the twelfth part) is an ablative construction with the gerundive agreeing with the noun `uncia`, referring to the restoration or transfer of the entrusted share of the inheritance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §36.1.63.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:36.1.63.pr

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