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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.14.21.pr-37.14.21.4

Restoration of Rights and Possession Contrary to Will

Passage 5871 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section regulates the restoration of patronal rights after return from deportation or condemnation to the mines, and details the conditions and exclusions regarding the patron's petition for possession of goods contrary to the will, including the impact of the freedman's natural children or the rejection of the estate.

[HERMOGENIANUS libro tertio iuris epitomarum. ] §37.14.21.prSiue patronus siue libertus deportetur et post restituatur, amissum patronatus et petendae contra tabulas bonorum possessionis ius recipitur: quod ius seruatur et si in metallum patronus uel libertus damnatus restituatur.
[HERMOGENIANUS, in the third book of Epitomes of Law.] Whether the patron or the freedman is deported and afterwards restored, the lost right of patronage and of petitioning for possession of goods contrary to the will is recovered; which right is also preserved if the patron or the freedman, having been condemned to the mines, is restored.
§37.14.21.1Excluditur contra tabulas bonorum possessione patronus et si ex uncia heres instituatur et id, quod deest ad supplendam debitam portionem, per seruum iudicio liberti sine condicione et dilatione ei, hereditate uel legato siue fideicommisso, quaeri potest.
The patron is excluded from the possession of goods contrary to the will even if he is appointed heir to a twelfth part, and that which is lacking to complete his due portion can be acquired for him, through a slave, by the will of the freedman without condition and delay, by inheritance, legacy, or trust.
§37.14.21.2Ex duobus patronis unus, ex debita parte heres institutus sine condicione et dilatione, contra tabulas bonorum possessionem petere non poterit, licet, si minor ei portio esset relicta et contra tabulas bonorum possessionem petisset, alia etiam portio ei adcrescere potuisset.
One of two patrons, if he has been appointed heir to his due share without condition and delay, will not be able to petition for possession of goods contrary to the will, although, if a smaller portion had been left to him and he had petitioned for possession of goods contrary to the will, another portion also could have accrued to him.
§37.14.21.3Naturales liberi liberti exheredati facti, alio ex parte herede instituto, si per seruum ex alia parte parenti successerint, obiciuntur patrono.
The natural children of a freedman who have been disinherited, when another person has been appointed heir to a part, if they succeed to their parent through a slave to another part, are set up against the patron.
§37.14.21.4Liberti filius heres institutus si bona repudiauerit, patronus non excluditur.
If the son of a freedman, having been appointed heir, rejects the estate, the patron is not excluded.

Notes

  1. §37.14.21.prquod ius — This is an example of the connecting relative (relative connection), referring back to the "right of patronage and of petitioning for possession of goods contrary to the will" restored in the previous clause.
  2. §37.14.21.1iudicio liberti — Here, "iudicium" means "will" or "testamentary disposition", and the ablative case indicates the means or cause.
  3. §37.14.21.2licet... potuisset — Inside the concessive clause (licet), a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (si... esset... potuisset) is constructed. Since in reality the due portion had been left, this accrual did not actually take place.
  4. §37.14.21.3obiciuntur patrono — The verb "obicere" means "to present or set against". Here, it means that the children are set up as a bar or defense against the patron's claim for possession of goods contrary to the will.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.14.21.pr-37.14.21.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.14.21.pr-37.14.21.4

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