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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.5.6.pr

Adjusting Legacies to Heirs When an Emancipated Son Is Passed Over

Passage 5755 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A query from Salvius Aristo to Julian regarding the payment of a legacy to an appointed heir when an emancipated son has been passed over, and Julian's response. Julian points out the flaws in the Edict where a legatee might receive more than the emancipated son, and argues for a temperation of these shares by a decree.

[IULIANUS Iulianus libro uicesimo tertio digestorum. ] §37.5.6.prSaluius Aristo Iuliano salutem.
[IULIANUS libro uicesimo tertio digestorum.] Salvius Aristo to Julian, greeting.
qui filium emancipatum habebat, praeterito eo patrem suum et extraneum heredem instituit et patri legatum dedit: filius contra tabulas bonorum possessionem petit: quaero, si aut uterque hereditatem adisset aut alter ex his aut neuter, an et quantum legatorum nomine patri debeatur.
A certain person who had an emancipated son, having passed him over, appointed his own father and a stranger as heirs, and gave a legacy to his father. The son sues for possession of goods contrary to the will. I ask whether and how much is owed to the father under the name of legacy, if either both have entered upon the inheritance, or one of them, or neither.
respondit: saepe animaduerti hanc partem edicti, qua emancipatus accepta contra tabulas bonorum possessione liberis et parentibus legata praestare iubetur, habere nonnullas reprehensiones: nam si dodrans legatus fuerit, plus habiturus est cui legatum erit quam emancipatus.
He replied: I have often noticed that this part of the Edict, by which an emancipated son, having received possession of goods contrary to the will, is ordered to pay legacies to children and parents, has some grounds for criticism; for if nine-twelfths (a dodrans) has been bequeathed, the person to whom the legacy is left will have more than the emancipated son.
decreto itaque ista temperari debebunt, ut et hereditatis partem emancipatus praestet ita, ne scriptus heres amplius habeat quam emancipatus, et legatorum modus temperaretur, ut nihil plus ex legatis ad aliquem perueniat, quam apud emancipatum bonorum possessionis nomine remansurum est.
Therefore, these matters must be tempered by a decree, so that the emancipated son may pay a portion of the inheritance in such a way that the written heir does not have more than the emancipated son, and the measure of the legacies should be tempered, so that nothing more comes to anyone from the legacies than what is to remain with the emancipated son under the name of possession of goods.

Notes

  1. §37.5.6.prqui filium emancipatum habebat — A relative clause with the demonstrative pronoun is omitted as its antecedent, functioning as the subject of the entire sentence.
  2. §37.5.6.pran et quantum legatorum nomine patri debeatur — An indirect question clause functioning as the object of the verb quaero. The verb debeatur (present subjunctive passive 3rd person singular) is used because it asks about the current legal obligation and its extent, following the hypothetical condition clause si... adisset (pluperfect subjunctive).
  3. §37.5.6.prdodrans — A Roman fractional term representing "nine-twelfths" (i.e., three-quarters), based on the division of an 'as' into twelve units.
  4. §37.5.6.prut et hereditatis partem emancipatus praestet ... et legatorum modus temperaretur — In the ut clause (noun or purpose clause) introduced by the future tense debebunt in the main clause, different tenses praestet (present subjunctive) and temperaretur (imperfect subjunctive) are coordinated. This may represent a scribal confusion (for temperetur) or a shift in tense due to attraction to the past/present institutional reality of the praetor's decree.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.5.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.5.6.pr

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