[IDEM libro uicensimo quarto digestorum. ]
[THE SAME, in the twenty-fourth book of his Digest.] If it should be written as follows: 'Sempronius be heir to a half share.
§37.11.8.prSi ita scriptum sit: 'Sempronius ex parte dimidia heres esto. Titius, si nauis ex Asia uenerit, ex parte tertia heres esto.
Titius, if the ship comes from Asia, be heir to a third share.
idem Titius, si nauis ex Asia non uenerit, ex parte sexta heres esto': Titius non ex duabus partibus heres scriptus, sed ipse sibi substitutus intellegi debet ideoque non ex maiore parte quam tertia scriptus uidetur.
Let the same Titius, if the ship does not come from Asia, be heir to a sixth share': Titius should be understood not to have been appointed heir to two shares, but to have been substituted to himself, and therefore he does not appear to have been appointed to a share larger than a third.
secundum hanc rationem cum sextans uacuus relinquatur, bonorum possessionem Titius accipiet non solum tertiae partis, sed eius quoque, quae ex sextante eidem adcrescit.
According to this reasoning, since a sixth remains vacant, Titius will receive the possession of goods not only of the third share, but also of that which accrues to him from the sixth.
§37.11.8.1Qui filio impuberi substituitur ita: 'si filius meus moriatur, priusquam in suam tutelam ueniat, tunc Titius mihi heres esto', sicut hereditatem uindicat, perinde ac si uerbum hoc 'mihi' adicctum non esset, ita bonorum quoque eius possessionem accipere potest.
He who is substituted to an impubescent son in this manner: 'if my son should die before he comes under his own guardianship, then let Titius be my heir', can receive the possession of his goods just as he claims the inheritance, in the same manner as if this word 'my' had not been added.
§37.11.8.2Sed et cum in praenomine cognomine erratum est, is ad quem hereditas pertinet etiam bonorum possessionem accipit.
But even when there is an error in the praenomen or cognomen, the person to whom the inheritance belongs also receives the possession of goods.
§37.11.8.3Is autem, cuius nomen in testamento uoluntate testatoris perductum est, sicut ad adeundam hereditatem, ita ad petendam bonorum possessionem scriptus non intellegitur, quamuis nomen eius legatur.
However, a person whose name has been crossed out in the will by the wish of the testator is not understood to have been appointed either to enter upon the inheritance or to petition for the possession of goods, although his name can be read.
§37.11.8.4Quidam testamentum in tabulis sibi fecit, filio autem impuberi per nuncupationem substituit.
A certain person made a will for himself on tablets, but substituted an impubescent son by verbal declaration.
respondi sententiam praetoris in danda bonorum possessione eam esse, ut separatim patris, separatim filii heredes aestimari debeant: nam quemadmodum scripto filii heredi separatim ab heredibus patris, ita nuncupato potest uideri separatim a scriptis patris heredibus bonorum possessio dari.
I replied that the opinion of the praetor in granting the possession of goods is that the heirs of the father and those of the son ought to be evaluated separately: for just as the possession of goods can be seen to be given to the written heir of the son separately from the heirs of the father, so it can be given to the verbally declared heir separately from the written heirs of the father.