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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.2.31.pr

Accepting an Unprofitable Legacy and Possession of Goods

Passage 5967 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is explained that if a patron is bequeathed a tract of land belonging to another, which he himself had sold to his freedman, and acknowledges the legacy, he cannot claim the possession of goods contrary to the will, even if the legacy brings him no actual benefit.

[MARCELLUS libro nono digestorum. ] §38.2.31.prPatrono libertus fundum, quem ab eo alienum emerat, legauit et constituit patronus ad se pertinere legatum: contra tabulas bonorum possessionem accipere non potest, etsi nihil profecit ei legatum, quia alienam rem legauerit ei libertus, quia patronus ipse eum liberto uendiderat.
[MARCELLUS, in the ninth book of the Digests.] A freedman bequeathed to his patron a tract of land which he had bought from him as belonging to another, and the patron decided that the legacy belonged to him: he cannot receive the possession of goods contrary to the will, even though the legacy profited him nothing, because the freedman bequeathed to him a thing belonging to another, which the patron himself had sold to the freedman.

Notes

  1. §38.2.31.pralienum — The adjective `alienum` predicatively modifies `fundum` (the antecedent of the relative pronoun `quem`), meaning "belonging to another." It describes the background situation where the patron had sold a piece of land that he did not own to the freedman.
  2. §38.2.31.prconstituit — Meaning "decided" or "acknowledged," taking the accusative with infinitive construction `ad se pertinere legatum`. By showing his intention to accept the legacy (thereby acknowledging the will), the patron loses the right to claim the possession of goods contrary to the will.
  3. §38.2.31.prlegauerit — The subjunctive perfect is used in the causal clause `quia...` to express either a subjective reason (the patron's perspective that the legacy is practically void) or because it is a subordinate clause within the concessive clause `etsi...`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.2.31.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.2.31.pr

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