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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.16.13.pr

Inability of Women to Have Sui Heredes

Passage 6081 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage states that no woman can have her own heirs, nor can she cease to have them due to a loss of status.

[GAIUS libro decimo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §38.16.13.prNulla femina aut habet suos heredes aut desinere habere potest propter capitis deminutionem.
[GAIUS, from the tenth book on the Julian and Papian Law.] No woman either has her own heirs or can cease to have them on account of a loss of status.

Notes

  1. §38.16.13.prNulla femina aut habet suos heredes aut desinere habere potest — The negative adjective 'Nulla' modifying the subject makes the disjunctive connectors 'aut... aut...' function as a double negation ('neither... nor...'). Since a woman cannot hold paternal power (patria potestas), she cannot have 'her own heirs' (suos heredes) who would become sui iuris upon her death, and consequently, she cannot lose such status through a loss of status (capitis deminutio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.16.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.16.13.pr

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