Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §36.2.23.pr

Annual Legacies: Yearly Capacity and Co-Owned Slaves

Passage 5664 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that in a legacy left for each individual year, the capacity of the legatee to acquire must be examined year by year, and in the case of a co-owned slave, the capacity of each individual owner must be considered.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §36.2.23.prCum in annos singulos legatum relinquitur, sine dubio per annos singulos inspecta condicione legatarii aut capere.

[ULPIANUS, fourth book on the Lex Julia et Papia.] When a legacy is left for each individual year, without a doubt, the status of the legatee must be examined year by year to see [whether] he can acquire [it].

et si plurium seruus sit, singulorum dominorum erunt personae spectandae.

And if the slave belongs to several owners, the persons of the individual owners must be considered.

Notes

36.2.23.praut capere — The phrase aut capere at the end of the clause is widely understood to involve an ellipsis of a verb (such as potest or licet), or a textual corruption (perhaps for an capere possit, "whether he can acquire"). Here, capere is a technical legal term referring to the capacity to "take" or acquire under a will under the Lex Julia et Papia.
36.2.23.prplurium seruus — plurium is the genitive plural of the comparative plus, meaning "of several [owners]," modifying seruus (slave). Since a legacy left to a co-owned slave accrues to the co-owners, the capacity to take the legacy must be examined for each individual owner.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §36.2.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:36.2.23.pr

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